"Patch of Dirt:" Hemingway's Writing Tips

When you want to better your craft, who better to take advice from than good ol’ Papa Hemingway? In this copyblogger post, Ernest himself shares his top 5 tips for writing well.

1. Use short sentences. 2. Use short first paragraphs. 3. Use vigorous English. 4. Be positive, not negative. 5. Never have only 4 rules.

The post ends with this famous quote by the venerable Hemingway, which could be the most important tip of all:

“I write one page of masterpiece to ninety-one pages of sh*t,” Hemingway confided to F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1934. “I try to put the sh*t in the wastebasket.”