JANUARY 2026 - HEMINGWAY
#014 - Hemingway’s Iceberg
Start by writing a detailed character profile. You might imagine you are at a dinner party and describing the person sitting opposite you or maybe choose a family member. Once you have written the detailed profile, try to convey the same key observations, character traits, and backstory in only a couple of lines - enough to achieve the same sentiment, if not more, “below the water line”
#015 - Six-word story
While sitting around a table with other writers, Ernest Hemingway was challenged as part of a bet to write a six-word novel. He came up with:
“For Sale: Baby Shoes, never worn.” - He won the bet.
Write your own six word story. The story needs to project a backstory and perhaps a future story. In “Baby shoes” we can see a pat, a baby’s death. And we see a present: selling the shoes either due to hardship or for closure.
#016 - Pace
Choose a piece of writing you have done previously that has at least ten continuous sentences. Or write a similar length piece describing a journey you have made. Read your writing back, paying close attention to the rhythm of the sentences and whether you linger over certain parts and stop abruptly at others. Is there a certain beat to it? Is there a constant “stop, start” of short sentences, or not time to come up for air with numerous long sentences? Perhaps consider rewriting the piece, interchanging long and short sentences and see the effect of pace and rhythm.
#017 - A historical crowd
Imagine you are in a crowd of people in a place of your choosing in each of the years listed below. Describe the crown and write down as dialogue anything that you hear people say or shout.
1205
1855
1925
1965
2026