“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the...

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know.” ― Ernest Hemingway

Often, when writers are starting out, they write too much – in terms of plot, description, backstory etc – because they’re not confident in their story. I know I did. I used to think: who am I to be offering my poor scribblings to the great libraries of literature? It took me many years to be okay with not being able to write like Austen or Dickens but just being able to write like me. It took me longer still to embrace and enjoy it. So Hemingway’s advice is perfect. We can all write what’s true to us, just as we can all be true to ourselves. And, ultimately, this is the greatest gift we can give to the world and the greatest joy that we will know.

Pic: O meeting his first illuminated snowman