Word Pirates

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

What is a true sentence? This page has some ideas. A true sentence:

• shows instead of tells
• uses sense words
• uses active verbs
• does not use the following forms of the verb “to be”: is; are; was; were; has, have, had been.

• has specific details; concrete objects; no abstractions; sense words
• uses metaphors and word pictures
• has no unnecessary or weak words (cut away, tighten)

But I think Hemingway also means a metaphorical truth. A true sentence contains a truth of life, even if it is a small one. It’s an interesting concept, writing a story of all true sentences–and I don’t mean imitating Hemingway here. Would all those little truths add up? Would they mean one big truth? Would the truths conflict? Can truth override the structure of fiction, which is one big lie?

We will have to do a prompt around this concept, WPs.

~ Joy