How to tell the truth

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know.” – Ernest Hemingway

I believe writing is, at its heart, about truth telling.

It is about finding something within us that needs to be said. Reaching within, wrangling the words to say the thing, and then… saying it.

This might sound kind of flighty but it is in fact, very practical—and it applies to professional writing as much as anything else. To write anything of merit, we need some degree of honesty — with ourselves, with others — around what it is that we are attempting to express. And then we need to communicate that.

In other words: We need to figure out what we truly mean to say, and then say it.

At their best, words can be a vehicle for truth-telling, and thus, a way to connect with other people. To make people feel seen, to create a sense of belonging, to enliven other’s experience through knowledge, understanding, insight.

At their worst, they can obfuscate, misdirect, tell lies, spread misinformation, do harm.

And, at their second worst, they can do nothing at all. (As I wrote about previously, it is easy to say absolutely nothing with your words; even easier with AI. This is a trap and a waste of everyone’s time.)

I believe the real reason some communications are more impactful than others isn’t because they use some clever storytelling system but because they are are better able to articulate real truth and meaning— and that makes them powerful.

If you want to communicate better or become a more impactful, effective and influential thought leader, this may very well be the missing piece.

Unfortunately…

When Hemingway says “all you have to do…” he makes it sound easy. It isn’t. (And he knew that too.)

It’s hard to get to the heart of what you really mean to say; it’s hard to say the true things; and it’s especially hard to do all this when the bases are loaded and there’s real risk on the line and you have competing pressures — like you need to engage your audience AND stay aligned with your business & brand AND keep various stakeholders happy AND show up as a human being for your own sanity and because that’s how you connect with audiences.

Navigating this is complex. And it’s what I do for a living. When I say I help people write and communicate, this is at the heart of it: helping them determine where the truth lies, identify what they need and want to say most, and then find the best way to express that while juggling these various tensions. 

(So, if you might want help creating your next big project, book, course, cert, or thought leadership endeavour, hit me up!)

So yeah, this stuff is hard to do on your own, but not impossible — and you can get better at it. 

Asking yourself some thoughtful questions can help. 

Next time you write, ask yourself one or more of the following:

  • What do I actually mean to say? (More in that in the previous newsletterif you’re interested.)
  • Is there a core truth, fact, issue, problem I am skirting around or not saying out loud?
  • What is going unsaid here, and why?
  • What is the thing that other people are refusing to acknowledge or name, and what would happen if I named it?
  • What is my actual, honest opinion of this?
  • What are the specific details that I haven’t shared yet?
  • What exactly, specifically happened to get here or lead me to this conclusion?
  • What is my personal experience with this that I’ve been hesitant to talk about?
  • How do I feel about this and why?

And simply…

  • Am I telling the truth? Is there anything in here that feels like less of the truth to me? Is there anything that feels like more of the truth?

And when in doubt, go back to the Hemingway quote. Just write one true line. And let it build from there.