Ernest Hemingway's Iceberg Theory of Prose:
"If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. A writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing. A writer who appreciates the seriousness of writing so little that he is anxious to make people see he is formally educated, cultured, or well-bred, is merely a popinjay."
(Death in the Afternoon. Scribner, 1932)
A popinjay:
1. a person given to vain, pretentious displays and empty chatter; coxcomb; fop.
2. British Dialect . a woodpecker, especially the green woodpecker.
3. Archaic . the figure of a parrot usually fixed on a pole and used as a target in archery and gun shooting.
4. Archaic . a parrot.
The popinjays are winning over the icebergs in the world. Of course I have problems with Hemingway as I would with any man who compares a woman to a racing yacht. But if I let ideology govern my taste in art, I'd be bored out of my mind. (And as sexist as that metaphor is, you have to admit it's pretty compelling and it sticks.) What I admire about Hemingway is his approach to writing as life - thought and feeling embodied in action. I also have a thing for doomed, stoic heroes. I.e. being them not necessarily wanting to be with them. How to write a Hemingwayesque heroine - Octavia Butler comes close - but I want my female heroes to be slightly less geeky, and funny. A funny woman of color. Now that would be revolutionary.
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