Hemingway as Web Copywriter?

Happy Monday everyone. Normally I post on social media because it’s the online marketing subject I keep watch over. But my first real love is writing. I was an English major in college, and took the writing track of my college’s curriculum. Lots of poetry and some very interesting literature courses. Most English majors hear that “you can’t do anything with an English major”, I know I did. But as I reflect on my college classes, I can say that my English coursework has been the most beneficial to me. I use the lessons from my English courses almost daily in my job. Being a writing major helped me tremendously with clarity in writing and my ability to write quickly, two skills that are essential in my job.

An example of how I use my English degree as an SEO specialist. I took a class on Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, two American writers  that came to fame during the first half of the 1900′s. Hemingway is famous for The Old Man and The Sea and Fitgerald wrote The Great Gatsby. Initially I liked Fitzgerald’s writing much more. It is beautifully descriptive. Hemingway, on the other hand, wrote in a very blunt, agressive style. I thought – what’s so good about Hemingway? It’s not hard to write a 5 word sentence.

I was wrong. Hemingway would have been a great web copywriter. Though Hemingway wrote short sentences and pointed descriptions, the meaning behind those words is sophisticated. His stories have depth that rivals Fitzgerald’s writing. Fitzgerald, it turns out was prone to overly-indulgent phrasing, that got worse as his career evolved. As I studied Hemingway I developed an appreciation for his “athletic” writing style and tried to integrate his brevity into my own writing.

In high school I loved to use words like epitome and lackadaisical. But now I love strong, short verbs and the backspace button is my weapon. I write my first drafts like Fitzgerald and cut them up like Hemingway. Because let’s face it, no one likes to read long sentences, million dollar words or semicolons. We want to read and understand fast. So I try to be as succinct and clear as possible.

In the world of web content, writing succinctly is essential. You need to say what you mean and say it fast. Your website visitors won’t have patience for “online literature”. But just because you must write this way doesn’t mean the quality has to suffer. On the contrary, just as Hemingway’s work was incredibly meaningful, web content can be too. As I said, write as big and as flowery as you want in your first draft, and then go in with your cursor and cut out the fluff and make things clear. Your great ideas and thoughts are the real mark of web content excellence.

My favorite Hemingway book is The Sun Also Rises and my favorite Fitzgerald novel is Tender is the Night. Happy Monday all!

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