--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You have always written before and you…" description: "\"“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”\" — Erne..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/ernest-hemingway-83_hemingway_you-have-always-written-before-and-you-w_1013430.jpg" --- # You have always written before and you will write now. All… ![“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” quote by Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/ernest-hemingway-83_hemingway_you-have-always-written-before-and-you-w_1013430.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/ernest-hemingway-83_hemingway_you-have-always-written-before-and-you-w_1013430.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/ernest-hemingway-83_hemingway_you-have-always-written-before-and-you-w_1013430.jpg) > ““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”” [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 begins with a single truthful statement; authenticity guides further expression. **In simple terms:** Start by stating a true sentence. Key Takeaway Write one honest sentence to begin. Themes creativity authenticity discipline Mood inspirational reflective Type literary motivational When to use this quote - journal entry - creative block - daily writing practice Key Concepts writing process self‑reflection Questions to Reflect On - What truth will you write first? - How does honesty shape your voice? A Different Perspective Focusing only on truth may limit imaginative storytelling. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“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/) > [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 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/) > [But sometimes when I was starting a new story and I could not get it going, I would sit in front of the fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/but-sometimes-when-i-was-starting-a-new-story-and-i-could-not-get-it/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [“Hemingway, whenever he was stuck in his writing, would tell himself to write one true thing. A true sentence. Then, he would write another.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamal-ravikant/hemingway-whenever-he-was-stuck-in-his-writing-would-tell-himself-to/) [Kamal Ravikant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamal-ravikant/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [“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/) > [“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 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/) > [“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/) ## 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 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/) > [Hemingway said the only way to write about a place is to leave it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/hemingway-said-the-only-way-to-write-about-a-place-is-to-leave-it/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) > [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/) Browse all 244 Hemingway quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. 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