How to Write Like Dialogue like Hemingway

How to Write Like Dialogue like HemingwayHow to Write Like Dialogue like HemingwayWhen writing dialogue, keep in mind the three-sentence rule give no character more than three uninterrupted sentences at once. You really can trust your audience to read between the lines in fact, part of the pleasure of reading a story is putting the pieces together. And most importantly, remember that your characters should not tell each other things they already know. Sample Hemingway Dialogue The classic example of this is Hemingways story Hills Like White Elephants. In the story, a man and a woman ?sit in a train station bar talking. As the scene progresses, it becomes clear that shes pregnant and the man wants her to have an abtreibung The beers nice and cool, the man said.Its lovely, the girl said.Its really an awfully simple operation, Jig, the man said. Its not really an operation at all.The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on.I know you wouldnt mind it, Jig. Its really not a nything. Its just to let the air in.The girl did not say anything.Ill go with you and Ill stay with you all the time. They just let the air in and then its all perfectly natural.Then what will we do afterward?Well be fine afterward. Just like we were before.What makes you think so?Thats the only thing that bothers us. Its the only thing thats made us unhappy. Note that the abortion, the procedure, is only alluded to. This helps illustrate their discomfort with the topic, but its also realistic. Since its the main thing on both of their minds, why would they spell it out? And while a less skillful writer might assume that the reader requires an explicit setup, Hemingway refrains from offering one. In addition to being more realistic, its also more satisfying to the reader. The Contrast of DenserDialogue Compare that to this break-up scene from a romance novel Look, I know I should have invited you to my party he yelled. But you hate my parties. You refused to move in with me. You never want to do anything fun anymore. Ever since you bought that old movie house, you are as outdated as the classic movies you show there. And when it comes to sex . . . lets not even go there. You never want to try anything new.Maybe because Im tired after running the classic movie theater all day.Which youre always rubbing in my face. I have money, too. I bought this house. I run it. So what if I dont have a real job? Think back to your last break up. How much did you explain to each other why things were ending? Chances are, you didnt list every single problem, in complete sentences, in that final argument. The dialogue here is more concerned with communicating certain facts to the reader, which is why it doesnt sound nearly as realistic as the Hemingway dialogue. (Though in the writers defense, which of us does sound as good as Hemingway?)