Kurt Vonnegut's rules for writing short stories | Hacker News Reader

Kurt Vonnegut's rules for writing short stories

en.wikipedia.org

46 pointskf14 comments

"Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages."

After having read most of Vonnegut's books, I can say that this is a big hallmark of his work. Vonnegut has such a microscopic view of events and characters that doesn't exclude even the slightest and faintest of the details or idiosyncrasies. Its refreshing to have that view but sometimes too much - but more than that, it leads to a very special relationship between the author and reader - Its probably just me, but I think of Kurt as a member of my family or karass because of this.

I liked that in Cat's Cradle, which is the only book of his I read. It was interesting having the Ice-9 tracked throughout the story, even before we knew what it was or what it would do. At the same time, it was a little exhausting, and it made the narrative feel somehow shallow. While it was enjoyable reading, there was no point in the book where I actively felt a desire to know what would happen next. That's the problem with the lack of suspense, I guess.

"there was no point in the book where I actively felt a desire to know what would happen next"

I agree - at the same time, after reading a couple of his other books, I feel this is the only kind of fiction that I can simply go to a book store and read for 15 min without feeling the need to finish the book (although I do finish it eventually). His style is quite haiku like in the sense that the beginning or end take a back seat. I should mention here that I am no haiku aficionado - so the reference might sound amateurish to someone who knows.

If this the only one you have read, then try slaughterhouse 5 too.

I think Hocus Pocus is more similar to Cat's Cradle than Slaughterhouse 5 is. Both are great though.

Interesting to think how these rules would work applied to other formats, like pitching a startup, or giving a scientific talk. Their applicability indicates a possible truth: people want a narrative, everywhere, all the time.

yeah, and all the rules read to me as being aimed towards "have mercy with the reader", which applies to writing code as well :)

From, "Back to School," Rodney Dangerfield's rules for learning Kurt Vonnegut:

"Dad, why don't you join me on a little reality break, OK?"

"Just 'cause you're in love with Dr. Turner does not mean you're gonna pass her course."

"You got a major paper coming up on Kurt Vonnegut."

"You haven't even read any of the books."

"I tried."

"I don't understand a word of it."

"So, how you gonna write the paper, then?"

"Hi, I'm Kurt Vonnegut. I'm looking for Thornton Melon."

"Want to come in? Dad?"

from wikipedia: Vonnegut played himself in a cameo in 1986's Back to School, in which he is hired by Rodney Dangerfield's Thornton Melon to write a paper on the topic of the novels of Kurt Vonnegut. Recognizing the work as not Melon's own, Professor Turner tells him, "Whoever did write this doesn't know the first thing about Kurt Vonnegut."

The first four are good general advice. The fifth and sixth are good ideas some of the time, the seventh is a bit platitudinous but possibly good advice some of the time, and the eighth is more like "a guide to writing like Kurt Vonnegut".

these are great

I suspect the only one who ever could write like Kurt Vonnegut is in fact Rodney^B^B^B Kurt Vonnegut.

The whole deal is that it cant be reduced to a formula - unless you have a lisp script for it, in which case Id accept that as proof I am wrong.

Downmod?

You resent the understated attempt at humour, or perhaps the deliberate Strunk and White non-compliance?

I have read several of Vs books, each of them sublime, along with Stephen Kings 'On Writing'.. and I think my comments were on topic.

ok, I'll pay 17c via paypal to the first two persons who upvote this post, thus obliterating the downmod.

"Resist complaining about being downmodded. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading."

http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

that's the general rule, but i'm going to play along this time, because -1 does seem a bit harsh for what you wrote.

humor is risky. it's not that news.yc readers don't like it, it's just that our standards are very high. the ^H^H joke is a threadbare cliche at this point and should be avoided.

sometimes you get downmodded for no real reason by a karma troll. if that happens, you really shouldn't complain about it, because within an hour or two somebody will vote you back up in sympathy.

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