--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Hemingway said the only way to write…" description: "\"Hemingway said the only way to write about a place is to leave it.\" — David Guterson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/792/david-guterson-8456_hemingway_hemingway-said-the-only-way-to-write-abo_29108.png" --- # Hemingway said the only way to write about a place is to… ![“Hemingway said the only way to write about a place is to leave it.” quote by David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/792/david-guterson-8456_hemingway_hemingway-said-the-only-way-to-write-abo_29108.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/792/david-guterson-8456_hemingway_hemingway-said-the-only-way-to-write-abo_29108.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/792/david-guterson-8456_hemingway_hemingway-said-the-only-way-to-write-abo_29108.png) > “Hemingway said the only way to write about a place is to leave it.” [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing about a location requires personal experience; true insight comes from having been there. **In simple terms:** Firsthand experience fuels authentic description. Key Takeaway Presence outweighs imagination. Themes authenticity experience place writing perspective Mood reflective nostalgic Type advice observation When to use this quote - travel writing - memoir - journalism - fiction setting Key Concepts sense of place subjectivity Practical Applications - creative nonfiction - location-based storytelling Questions to Reflect On - How does personal presence shape narrative voice? - What risks arise when describing places never visited? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Congratulations Tomi Adeyemi on your breakout novel CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE. 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I've been alone in troubled times, and I don't mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/when-things-are-going-well-i-like-to-have-people-to-share-it-with-i/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [When Hemingway said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-covert-comic-aka-john-alejandro-king/when-hemingway-said/) [The Covert Comic Aka John Alejandro King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-covert-comic-aka-john-alejandro-king/) > [“Like Hemingway said, the only thing that could spoil a day was people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikki-sixx/like-hemingway-said-the-only-thing-that-could-spoil-a-day-was-people/) [Nikki Sixx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikki-sixx/) > [“Hemingway said: 'It don't come anymore.' So where did it go?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/hemingway-said-it-don-t-come-anymore-so-where-did-it-go/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [ \[Ernest \]Hemingway always said, "Write about what you know." I think you can do that, and if you want to write about what you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/ernest-hemingway-always-said-write-about-what-you-know-i-think-you/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) > [“One of the vital things for a writer who’s writing a book, which is a lengthy project and is going to take about a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/one-of-the-vital-things-for-a-writer-who-s-writing-a-book-which-is-a/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [“Sometimes during the night I'd look at my poor sleeping mother cruelly crucified there in the American night because of no-money, no-hope-of-money, no family,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/sometimes-during-the-night-i-d-look-at-my-poor-sleeping-mother-2/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [I don't care what 'Pitchfork' says. 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Immediately after you've seen something you can give a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/never-write-about-a-place-until-you-re-away-from-it-because-it-gives/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Faulkner came from my region and taught me how you could write about a place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-rash/faulkner-came-from-my-region-and-taught-me-how-you-could-write-about/) [Ron Rash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-rash/) > [I write from the place of inquiry. The first draft is a discovery period to see what I know and what I don't know.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/i-write-from-the-place-of-inquiry-the-first-draft-is-a-discovery/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [In every novel, I write about something - a place, an experience, an emotion - with which I'm intimately familiar, but it's also crucial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/in-every-novel-i-write-about-something-a-place-an-experience-an/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) ## More by David Guterson > [How could they say that they truly loved each other? They had simply grown up together, been children together, and the proximity of it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/how-could-they-say-that-they-truly-loved-each-other-they-had-simply/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) > [He decided then that he would love her forever no matter what came to pass. It was not so much a matter of deciding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/he-decided-then-that-he-would-love-her-forever-no-matter-what-came-to/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) > [There's a certain nostalgia and romance in a place you left.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/there-s-a-certain-nostalgia-and-romance-in-a-place-you-left/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) > [It doesn't matter who you are, how many awards you've won, how popular you are, or how much critical acclaim you've had.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/it-doesn-t-matter-who-you-are-how-many-awards-you-ve-won-how-popular/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) > [accident ruled every corner of the universe except the chambers of the human heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/accident-ruled-every-corner-of-the-universe-except-the-chambers-of/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) > [“Ben remembered that in Italy, he and Rachel had slipped down between rows of apple trees on the plain of the Po, deep into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/ben-remembered-that-in-italy-he-and-rachel-had-slipped-down-between/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) > [“The color of the sky was like a length of white chalk turned on its side and rubbed into asphalt. Sanded--that was how the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/the-color-of-the-sky-was-like-a-length-of-white-chalk-turned-on-its/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) > [To deny that there was this dark side of life would be like pretending that the cold of winter was somehow only a temporary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/to-deny-that-there-was-this-dark-side-of-life-would-be-like/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) > [We should recognize that schools will never solve the bedrock problems of education because the problems are problems of families, of cultural pressures that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/we-should-recognize-that-schools-will-never-solve-the-bedrock/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) > [“It ate at whatever was warm nearby, and then the coldness settled in permanently. You learned to live with it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/it-ate-at-whatever-was-warm-nearby-and-then-the-coldness-settled-in/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) > [“The trick was to live here without hating yourself because all around you was hatred. The trick was to refuse to allow your pain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/the-trick-was-to-live-here-without-hating-yourself-because-all-around/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) > [I grew up in Seattle, but I always knew I wanted to leave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/i-grew-up-in-seattle-but-i-always-knew-i-wanted-to-leave/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) > [A literary achievement of the highest order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/a-literary-achievement-of-the-highest-order/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) > [Well, I think it’s extraordinarily fun to write, and I look forward to it every day, but that doesn’t mean I think it’s easy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/well-i-think-it-s-extraordinarily-fun-to-write-and-i-look-forward-to/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) > [“He hoped it would snow recklessly and bring to the island the impossible winter purity, so rare and precious, he remembered fondly from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/he-hoped-it-would-snow-recklessly-and-bring-to-the-island-the/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) [Explore all 80 David Guterson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) ## More Hemingway quotes > [“Do you read them? Faulkner, Hemingway, Fitzgerald?" "Only if I have to. I try to avoid old dead white men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-grisham/do-you-read-them-faulkner-hemingway-fitzgerald-only-if-i-have-to-i/) [John Grisham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-grisham/) > [The key for me with historical characters is they're interesting because they're human beings. A little bit of Hemingway goes a long way here,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hirst/the-key-for-me-with-historical-characters-is-they-re-interesting/) [Michael Hirst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hirst/) > [“But writers and their woes: they couldn't be parted. Not for anything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wood/but-writers-and-their-woes-they-couldn-t-be-parted-not-for-anything/) Naomi Wood > [Hemingway sucks. If I set out to write that way, it would have been been hollow and lifeless because it wasn't me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/hemingway-sucks-if-i-set-out-to-write-that-way-it-would-have-been/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“All right, said Nick. Let's get drunk. All right, Bill said. Let's get really drunk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/all-right-said-nick-let-s-get-drunk-all-right-bill-said-let-s-get/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Ernest Hemingway was always uneasy in New York and liked being there less than in any other city he frequented.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-hotchner/ernest-hemingway-was-always-uneasy-in-new-york-and-liked-being-there/) [A. E. Hotchner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-hotchner/) > [Helpful to me over the years was some of Ernest Hemingway's writing, for example A Farewell to Arms. You have characters who speak Italian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miroslav-penkov/helpful-to-me-over-the-years-was-some-of-ernest-hemingway-s-writing/) [Miroslav Penkov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miroslav-penkov/) > [“The Purdey was not a Purdey but a straight-stocked long-barreled Scott live-pigeon full choke in both barrels thai I had bought from a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/the-purdey-was-not-a-purdey-but-a-straight-stocked-long-barreled/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I was writing novels in high school and apprenticed myself in a way both to Faulkner and to Hemingway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-was-writing-novels-in-high-school-and-apprenticed-myself-in-a-way/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [“Did I know him? Did I love him? You ask me that? I knew him like you know nobody in the world, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/did-i-know-him-did-i-love-him-you-ask-me-that-i-knew-him-like-you/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“The priest was good but dull. The officers were not good but dull. The King was good but dull. The wine was bad but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/the-priest-was-good-but-dull-the-officers-were-not-good-but-dull-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“We knew what we had and what it meant, and though so much had happened since for both of us, there was nothing like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/we-knew-what-we-had-and-what-it-meant-and-though-so-much-had-happened/) [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) > [I don't think I have even achieved fame. Of course, Hemingway says that fame is death's little sister.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kinky-friedman/i-don-t-think-i-have-even-achieved-fame-of-course-hemingway-says-that/) [Kinky Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kinky-friedman/) > [Wanted to write fiction since I was 11, since I first read 'In Our Time' by Hemingway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/wanted-to-write-fiction-since-i-was-11-since-i-first-read-in-our-time/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [Faulkner is a writer who has had much to do with my soul, but Hemingway is the one who had the most to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/faulkner-is-a-writer-who-has-had-much-to-do-with-my-soul-but/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) Browse all 244 Hemingway quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Hemingway said the only way to write about a place is to leave it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Guterson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/hemingway-said-the-only-way-to-write-about-a-place-is-to-leave-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hemingway" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/hemingway-said-the-only-way-to-write-about-a-place-is-to-leave-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/792/david-guterson-8456_hemingway_hemingway-said-the-only-way-to-write-abo_29108.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/792/david-guterson-8456_hemingway_hemingway-said-the-only-way-to-write-abo_29108.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/792/david-guterson-8456_hemingway_hemingway-said-the-only-way-to-write-abo_29108.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Hemingway said the only way to write about a place is to leave it.” — David Guterson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "David Guterson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Hemingway said the only way to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/hemingway-said-the-only-way-to-write-about-a-place-is-to-leave-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/hemingway-said-the-only-way-to-write-about-a-place-is-to-leave-it/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```