--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But sometimes when I was starting a new…" description: "\"But sometimes when I was starting a new story and I could not get it going, I would sit in front of the fire and squeeze the peel of the little oranges..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6a/ernest-hemingway-83_blue_but-sometimes-when-i-was-starting-a-new_1445801.jpg" --- # But sometimes when I was starting a new story and I could… ![“But sometimes when I was starting a new story and I could not get it going, I would sit in front of the fire and squeeze the peel of the little oranges into the edge of the flame and watch the sputter of blue that they made. I would stand and look out over the roofs of Paris and think, 'Do not…” quote by Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6a/ernest-hemingway-83_blue_but-sometimes-when-i-was-starting-a-new_1445801.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6a/ernest-hemingway-83_blue_but-sometimes-when-i-was-starting-a-new_1445801.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6a/ernest-hemingway-83_blue_but-sometimes-when-i-was-starting-a-new_1445801.jpg) > “But sometimes when I was starting a new story and I could not get it going, I would sit in front of the fire and squeeze the peel of the little oranges into the edge of the flame and watch the sputter of blue that they made. I would stand and look out over the roofs of Paris and think, 'Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.' So finally I would write one true sentence, and then go on from there.” [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing block can be broken by simple, sensory rituals that refocus the mind on truth. **In simple terms:** Simple rituals can spark writing. Key Takeaway Use a sensory cue to start writing. Themes creativity discipline mindfulness Mood introspective inspirational Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing sessions - artist retreats - early mornings Key Concepts rituals authenticity Questions to Reflect On - What sensory cue could you use? - How does truth guide your writing? A Different Perspective Rituals may not work for everyone. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blue/) [Fire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fire/) [Paris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paris/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Worry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worry/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/you-have-always-written-before-and-you-will-write-now-all-you-have-to/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“I would stand and look out over the roofs of Paris and think, “Do not worry. You have always written before and you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-would-stand-and-look-out-over-the-roofs-of-paris-and-think-do-not-2/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“I always worked until I had something done and I always stopped when I knew what was going to happen next. That way I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-always-worked-until-i-had-something-done-and-i-always-stopped-when-2/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/all-you-have-to-do-is-write-one-true-sentence-write-the-truest/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I would stand and look out over the roofs of Paris and think, "Do not worry. You have always written before and you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-would-stand-and-look-out-over-the-roofs-of-paris-and-think-do-not/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I would write one true sentence, and then go on from there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-would-write-one-true-sentence-and-then-go-on-from-there/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“I want to write one true sentence', he said. 'If I can write one sentence, simple and true every day, I'll be satisfied.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-mclain/i-want-to-write-one-true-sentence-he-said-if-i-can-write-one-sentence/) [Paula McLain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-mclain/) > [I had expected that at some point during the first draft a light would go on, and I would understand, finally, how to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-kent/i-had-expected-that-at-some-point-during-the-first-draft-a-light/) [Hannah Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-kent/) > [Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/do-not-worry-you-have-always-written-before-and-you-will-write-now/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“For the first time in years, he wasn’t trapped in writing his agony. Now, he could finally write his hopes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-michelle-austin/for-the-first-time-in-years-he-wasn-t-trapped-in-writing-his-agony/) Joy Michelle Austin > [Your senses are reeling all the time. Finally you find something to write and the very next day you go out and see something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dance/your-senses-are-reeling-all-the-time-finally-you-find-something-to/) [Charles Dance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dance/) > [“Hemingway suggested you write the truest sentence you know. I say write the falsest one you don’t know. This is fiction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/hemingway-suggested-you-write-the-truest-sentence-you-know-i-say/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [“And I did long for it, to say one true sentence of my own, to leap into the subject, that sturdy vessel travelling upstream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-lee/and-i-did-long-for-it-to-say-one-true-sentence-of-my-own-to-leap-into/) [Rebecca Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-lee/) > [Don't try to write what other people are writing - write what is true to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-paul-evans/don-t-try-to-write-what-other-people-are-writing-write-what-is-true/) [Richard Paul Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-paul-evans/) > [I'm writing about real things. Real people. Real characters. You have to believe what I write about is true or you wouldn't pay any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/i-m-writing-about-real-things-real-people-real-characters-you-have-to/) [Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/) ## More by Ernest Hemingway > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“There was no wind, and, outside now of the warm air of the cave, heavy with smoke of both tobacco and charcoal, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/there-was-no-wind-and-outside-now-of-the-warm-air-of-the-cave-heavy/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“It was not brilliant bull-fighting. It was only perfect bull-fighting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/it-was-not-brilliant-bull-fighting-it-was-only-perfect-bull-fighting/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [One cat just leads to another. The place is so damned big it doesn't really seem as though there were many cats until you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/one-cat-just-leads-to-another-the-place-is-so-damned-big-it-doesn-t/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Creation's probably overrated. After all, God made the world in only six days and rested on the seventh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/creation-s-probably-overrated-after-all-god-made-the-world-in-only/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“Viva my husband who was Mayor of this town”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/viva-my-husband-who-was-mayor-of-this-town/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“The earth gets tired of being exploited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/the-earth-gets-tired-of-being-exploited/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [What is moral is what you feel good after, and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/what-is-moral-is-what-you-feel-good-after-and-what-is-immoral-is-what/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“We drove out along the coast road. There was the green of the headlands, the white, red-roofed villas, patches of forest, and the ocean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/we-drove-out-along-the-coast-road-there-was-the-green-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [As a Nobel Prize winner I cannot but regret that the award was never given to Mark Twain, nor to Henry James, speaking only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/as-a-nobel-prize-winner-i-cannot-but-regret-that-the-award-was-never/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Oh, darling, I've been so miserable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/oh-darling-i-ve-been-so-miserable/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I read my own books sometimes to cheer me when it is hard to write, and then I remember that it was always difficult,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-read-my-own-books-sometimes-to-cheer-me-when-it-is-hard-to-write/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“You find everything on earth at Harry's." "Yes, my Colonel. Except, possibly, happiness." "I'll damn well find happiness, too," the Colonel assured him. "Happiness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/you-find-everything-on-earth-at-harry-s-yes-my-colonel-except/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“No. It's bad for me. Cole Porter wrote the words and the music. This knowledge that you're going mad for me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/no-it-s-bad-for-me-cole-porter-wrote-the-words-and-the-music-this/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“everything kills everything else in some way. Fishing kills me exactly as it keeps me alive. The boy keeps me alive, he thought. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/everything-kills-everything-else-in-some-way-fishing-kills-me-exactly/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) [Explore all 1,464 Ernest Hemingway quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## More Blue quotes > [When I haven't any blue I use red.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/when-i-haven-t-any-blue-i-use-red/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [If you're white and you're wrong, then you're wrong; if you're black and you're wrong, you're wrong. People are people. Black, blue, pink, green…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-marley/if-you-re-white-and-you-re-wrong-then-you-re-wrong-if-you-re-black/) [Bob Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-marley/) > [Memory revises me. Even now a letter comes from a place I don’t know, from someone with my name and postmarked years ago, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/memory-revises-me-even-now-a-letter-comes-from-a-place-i-don-t-know/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Human beings should stick together. Honestly, if I see a red-haired person with blue eyes now, I say, 'Is your granny black?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-jones/human-beings-should-stick-together-honestly-if-i-see-a-red-haired/) [Grace Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-jones/) > [The Louvre! The Louvre has me in its clutches. Every time I'm there rich blessings rain down upon me. I am coming to understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-modersohn-becker/the-louvre-the-louvre-has-me-in-its-clutches-every-time-i-m-there/) [Paula Modersohn-Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-modersohn-becker/) > [We live in a state with a wonderful climate and plenty of natural beauty, from the shores of Cumberland Island to the Chattahoochee River…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-barnes/we-live-in-a-state-with-a-wonderful-climate-and-plenty-of-natural/) [Roy Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-barnes/) > [I had never done anything with blue screen before, or prosthetics, or anything like that. Lord of the Rings was like stepping into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/i-had-never-done-anything-with-blue-screen-before-or-prosthetics-or/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) > [UN peacekeeping operations are now increasingly complex and multi-dimensional, going beyond monitoring a ceasefire to actually bringing failed States back to life, often after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/un-peacekeeping-operations-are-now-increasingly-complex-and-multi/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [Mother, she likes the blue material just fine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-white/mother-she-likes-the-blue-material-just-fine/) [Ron White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-white/) > [You know, I'm the only one in this family who has no problems, . . . And you know why? Because any time I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-know-i-m-the-only-one-in-this-family-who-has-no-problems-and-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [it'll be this kind of deep blue”she said. “The kind of color that somehow sucks your eyes and your ears and all your words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banana-yoshimoto/it-ll-be-this-kind-of-deep-blue-she-said-the-kind-of-color-that/) [Banana Yoshimoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banana-yoshimoto/) > [It is moonlight. Alone in the silence I ascend my stairs once more, While waves remote in pale blue starlight Crash on a white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/it-is-moonlight-alone-in-the-silence-i-ascend-my-stairs-once-more/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [The grape Hyacinth is the favorite spring flower of my garden - but no! I though a minute ago the Scilla was! and what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-morse-earle/the-grape-hyacinth-is-the-favorite-spring-flower-of-my-garden-but-no/) [Alice Morse Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-morse-earle/) > [I swam with my first shark in the 1980s. I was 20 miles off the coast of Rhode Island, working with a group of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-skerry/i-swam-with-my-first-shark-in-the-1980s-i-was-20-miles-off-the-coast/) [Brian Skerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-skerry/) [Browse all 3,452 Blue quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blue/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But sometimes when I was starting a new story and I could not get it going, I would sit in front of the fire and squeeze the peel of the little oranges into the edge of the flame and watch the sputter of blue that they made. I would stand and look out over the roofs of Paris and think, 'Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.' So finally I would write one true sentence, and then go on from there.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernest Hemingway" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/but-sometimes-when-i-was-starting-a-new-story-and-i-could-not-get-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Blue" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/but-sometimes-when-i-was-starting-a-new-story-and-i-could-not-get-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6a/ernest-hemingway-83_blue_but-sometimes-when-i-was-starting-a-new_1445801.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6a/ernest-hemingway-83_blue_but-sometimes-when-i-was-starting-a-new_1445801.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6a/ernest-hemingway-83_blue_but-sometimes-when-i-was-starting-a-new_1445801.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But sometimes when I was starting a new story and I could not get it going, I would sit in front of the fire…” — Ernest Hemingway", "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": "Ernest Hemingway", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "But sometimes when I was starting...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/but-sometimes-when-i-was-starting-a-new-story-and-i-could-not-get-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/but-sometimes-when-i-was-starting-a-new-story-and-i-could-not-get-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 } } ] } ```