The most essential gift for a good writer

The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shockproof shit detector. This is the writer's radar and all great writers have had it.
--Ernest Hemingway

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Here's a funny toy: a remote-controlled car with a built-in metal detector. Drive it over a piece of metal and it'll go BEEP and light up. It doesn't have anything like serious ground penetration, but still, a cool toy. There are several reasons that metal detecting has not been made into a…
INTERVIEWER Could you say something of this process? When do you work? Do you keep to a strict schedule? HEMINGWAY When I am working on a book or story I write every morning as soon after first light as possible. There is no one to disturb you and it is cool or cold and you come to your work and…
A new book just (or just about to be) released called "Not what I was planning: Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure" has been on the media blitz lately. It stems from a great anecdote about Ernest Hemingway once writing a story with only six words, and coming up with an eloquent: "For…
A few days ago, I wrote about a neat little book ("Not what I was planning: Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure") coming out which revolves around the concept of trying to encapsulate your life in 6 words: It stems from a great anecdote about Ernest Hemingway once writing a story…