“I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eighths of it underwater for every part that shows.”

— Ernest Hemingway

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eighths of it underwater for every part that show…" by Ernest Hemingway?

Ernest Hemingway photo

Ernest Hemingway 501

American author and journalist 1899–1961

Related quotes

“I have not strutted my stuff yet. If I start showing off and try to look sexy, many actresses will not get a sound sleep. Till now, whatever I did was just the tip of the iceberg. The day I will show the whole iceberg, no one will stand in any competition against me.”

Yana Gupta (1979) Czech model and actress

"Yana Gupta" https://web.archive.org/web/20051224063325/http://www.bollywoodgate.com/indian-models/yana-gupta.html, Bollywoodgate.com (archived on 24 December 2005).

“If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows, and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. A writer who omits things only because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing.”

Ernest Hemingway book Death in the Afternoon

Hemingway's famous iceberg theory of writing.
Source: Death in the Afternoon (1932), Ch. 16

“I can’t write five words but that I change seven.”

Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist

“One of the most helpful things that any body can learn is to give up trying to catch the last eighth - or the first. These two are the most expensive eighths in the world.”

Edwin Lefèvre book Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

Source: Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (1923), Chapter V, p. 61

“I doubt myself every day. I think most writers do. It’s part of the process. It’s in part what keeps you trying to write better each day, each book. If you were ever completely satisfied, I think you might just move on to something else. So you persevere. My bandmate, Stephen King, says successful writing is 5% talent, 5% luck, and 90% perseverance. You hit walls, reviews, dead-ends, editors, trends, and you wake up in the morning and keep going. You write for the joy of writing. It’s the best job in the world. I never—never—take this opportunity for granted. I try to earn it every day I’m in the chair.”

Ridley Pearson (1953) American writer

Interview with Ridley Pearson http://blog.booksamillion.com/author-spotlight/author-interviews/2016/08/interview-ridley-pearson/ (August 22, 2016)

“I always think of writing as a physical thing. I'm not trying to generalize, it just happens to be that way with me.”

Nelson Algren (1909–1981) American novelist, short story writer

"The Art of Fiction No. 11" (1955)

“A lot of the shows relate to interrelationships and attitudes, again, always trying to do it within the context of a very entertaining show.”

Jim Henson (1936–1990) American puppeteer

Henson on the motivation behind Fraggle Rock
Interview with Associated Press (1987)

“I don’t write stories to tell readers what to think, or even tell them what I think; I write stories to show me what I think. Writing is always a journey of discovery that way, as suspenseful for me as I hope it will be for the audience.”

Lois McMaster Bujold (1949) Science Fiction and fantasy author from the USA

Geek Speak Magazine Interview (2010)

“Every musician, I guess, wants to alter the world to his or her taste in some fashion… That's part of why I write music.”

Andrew Sega (1975) musician from America

Static Line interview, 1998

“An age at least to every part,
And the last age should show your heart.”

Andrew Marvell To His Coy Mistress

To His Coy Mistress (1650-1652)

Related topics