If a writer of a 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 the iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. The writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing.
The Iceberg Theory by Ernest Hemingway.
A writing technique that communicates with subtext; for instance, Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” never mentions the actual theme of the story although the main characters are discussing it.
Permalink. Posted November 4, 2009. Tagged with: ernest hemingway writing technique
