Why Ernest Hemingway Might Hate You.

Hemingway was a ruthless editor of his own work, and he’d be the same with yours. He believed in clarity, simplicity, and packing meaning into every single word. Most copy doesn’t live up to that standard.

If you’re writing bloated, boring, or meaningless sentences, he’d probably mutter something under his breath, light a cigarette, and walk away.

Walking in Hemingway’s footsteps doesn’t mean you need to start riding bulls and writing gossipy novels about your friends– he just knew that every word mattered. If your words don’t yet, it’s time to start fixing them.

So, if your words aren’t landing, here’s why Hemingway hates you—and what he’d tell you to do about it:


𝟭. 𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀.

Hemingway famously said, “Write the truest sentence you know.” Most marketing copy does the opposite—it’s a swamp of jargon and fluff, desperately trying to sound impressive but drowning in its own verbosity.

The Fix: Get rid of the filler. If your sentence doesn’t have a clear point, cut it. Don’t write: “Leverage our innovative solutions to achieve unparalleled efficiency.” Instead, write: “Get it done. Faster.” Then stop there.

If every word doesn’t work for you, it’s working against you.

𝟮. 𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲.

Hemingway believed in the iceberg theory—what you show matters more than what you say outright. Most bad copy doesn’t get this. It tries to cram every feature, benefit, and statistic into one suffocating paragraph.

The Fix: Focus on what really matters. Show, don’t tell. Instead of writing: “Our product is revolutionary because it improves efficiency by 35% and saves you five hours a week,” ask your audience what they could do with five more hours.


𝟯. 𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲.

Hemingway said, “The first draft of anything is [terrible].” Most bad copy happens because someone stops at the first draft and calls it a day. Good copy isn’t written—it’s rewritten.

The Fix: Edit like your job depends on it—because it does. Every sentence should be sharper than the last. If you haven’t rewritten your headline until you get to the Pain Cave, you’re not done.


𝟰. 𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴.

The cardinal sin of copywriting? Not having fun. Most people would kill for that job description. Assume your reader doesn’t care— because they probably don’t. And it’s your job to change that.

The Fix: Stop playing it safe. Experiment. Take risks. Be bold. You have one job: make them pay attention. Stop pretending that’s easy.


Here’s the thing: Hemingway doesn’t actually hate you. He hates that you’re wasting your words.

Because bad copy is a sin Hemingway couldn’t forgive. But great copy? He’d pour a glass, sit back, and say, “Not bad, kid. Not bad.”

And if you don’t know where to start? Well, we should probably talk.