Share Me

Writing Lab: Kurt Vonnegut’s eight essentials for a good short story.

via Andrea Balt on Sep 11, 2012 | 8 comments

With “deep-bone sadness” that often turned into dark-tongue humor, one of the most unique and unforgettable voices of XXth century American literature, Mr. Vonnegut, serves you the eight, most essential rules to writing a short story.

How this applies to you even if you’re not (technically) a short story writer.

Because see… in the end, you are. Whatever you’re writing—whether it is poetry, a longer piece of fiction, or even non-ficiton, you’re always telling a story.

In fact, it goes even deeper—if you’ll allow me some Vonnegut-inflated, garage philosophy: we live in stories and we can’t understand life outside the story concept.

Our entire memory, our concept of the world is but a big story board.

Everything we’ve ever known is a story, within another story—and even the deepest, most literal and scientific truth has a fictional side that confirms its exception, if only, in the telling and understanding of it.

As such, the better you understand our human Art of Storytelling—both in writing and on that bigger scale of things called “life”—the richer your short experience on Earth will be.

Enters Vonnegut.

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

4. Every sentence must do one or two things—reveal character or advance the action.

5. Start as close to the end as possible.

6. Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading character, make awful things happen to them-in order that the reader may see what they’re made of.

7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

8. 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.

I have a high respect for inventors of fictional religions. I interview them in my sleep.

Another way to recycle pain.

Wait, one more thing: Cough, Cough?

(Repetition is your mother’s mother.)

*****

Co-creator of Rebelle Society. Unfinished book with a love for greens, bikes and poetry. Holds a BA in Mass Communication, an MFA in Creative Writing & is an AADP certified Wellness Alchemist. Raised by wolves & adopted by people. Not trying to make art but to be art. In addition to Rebelle Society, she spills her tea over at Rebelle Époque & she is currently undergoing 365 days of Creative Rehab. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest & Tumblr.

Latest posts by Andrea Balt (see all)

The Writer’s Manifesto. - May 20, 2013
Heart Alchemy & Unrealistic Dream Chasing with Paulo Coelho. - May 12, 2013
Existentialism & Nietzsche explained to 5-year-olds: “Eggsalentialism?” - April 28, 2013
Creative Rehab: 7 Myths about Creativity. - April 26, 2013
Bob Marley on the Life-Altering Symptoms of Falling & Staying in Love. - April 24, 2013
“Writing, at its best, is a lonely life.” Ernest Hemingway’s Moving Nobel Acceptance Speech. - April 19, 2013
21 Love Lessons They Didn’t Teach You in School. - April 12, 2013
Tolstoy on the Object of Life: A rare, 1909 recording. - April 1, 2013
Disobey! From Mass Propaganda to Inverted Totalitarianism & the true meaning of Rebellion. - March 22, 2013
Stardust: No one is ever wasted. - March 15, 2013
A Brief History of Photography, Animated. - March 13, 2013
Notes from a Stoic: Marcus Aurelius on Mastery, Wholeness & Self-Control. - March 6, 2013
Benjamin Franklin’s Personal Manifesto: 13 virtues to live by. - March 1, 2013
“Don’t expect me to be sane anymore.” {Henry Miller’s hunger for Anaïs Nin} - February 25, 2013
Eight things cultured people do differently. - February 6, 2013
A Recipe for Creativity from John Cleese. - February 1, 2013
The Science of Productivity. {How to get more done in less time.} - January 16, 2013
13 Best Films of 2012. - January 13, 2013
How not to be afraid of spiders. - January 11, 2013
Not Your Usual Sadness Cocktail. - January 9, 2013
Writing Lab: How to dig deep into yourself. - December 26, 2012
Amelia Earhart on Marriage. {Letter to future husband.} - December 19, 2012
The Recycled Orchestra: Music made from trash. - December 10, 2012
How to Break Habits: Why we do what we do in life & business. - December 9, 2012
Damn You All to Hell. {A letter from Tom Hanks.} - December 7, 2012
An open-source cure for brain cancer. - December 7, 2012
“Live like a Mighty River.” {Ted Hughes’ advice to his son.} - December 5, 2012
Nine signs you might be Anna Karenina. - November 28, 2012
The Beauty Alchemist: How to make your own lotion. - November 20, 2012
No Fear of Heights. - November 16, 2012
Writing Lab: 11 Juicy Tips from Mark Twain. - November 14, 2012
Butternut Squash Coco Affair. - November 13, 2012
Falling in Love. {explained to children} - November 12, 2012
Joseph Campbell on the Art of Being Alive. - November 9, 2012
The Beauty Alchemist: Fight for your soap. - November 6, 2012
Dear Sir, I like Words. - November 5, 2012
Viktor Frankl on love, success & the meaning of life. - November 2, 2012
The Power of Introverts. - November 1, 2012
Girl on a bike: A life you can ride. - October 31, 2012
Creative Rehab: The Beginning Is Near. - October 29, 2012
Poetry Lounge: “My life had stood, a loaded gun.” {Emily Dickinson} - October 28, 2012
A map. - October 26, 2012
Rainer Maria Rilke on the Art of Being Alone. - October 25, 2012
Juice Society: Green S.O.S. - October 24, 2012
Writing Lab: “If it doesn’t come bursting out of you…” {Charles Bukowski} - October 22, 2012
Entrepreneur Tales: Of Breakdowns & Breakthroughs. - October 22, 2012
The Beauty Alchemist: Biutiful Maladies. - October 18, 2012
How to Survive your Evil Twin. - October 17, 2012
The Wisdom of the Heart: Henry Miller on wholeness, love & conflict. - October 16, 2012
Instant: The rise & fall of Polaroid’s creative revolution. - October 15, 2012

SHARE ME

More Rebelle...

Rebelle on Facebook & Twitter

General contact: editorial@rebellesociety.com
Submissions: create@rebellesociety.com
Advertise: advertise@rebellesociety.com

8 Comments

Sep12

learningcurvesblogB

Thanks you for this and for the Writing Lab. I am a master of procrastination…with a story always emerging inside my head but busying myself too much to actually put it down in writing {but mostly due to fear, of course}. As selfish as it sounds, it’s comforting to know I am not alone…

- Sep14
  
  Andrea Balt
  
  Well, it’s a lonely profession. We have issues. And need good company to get through them (if only, around other crazies). You’re not alone in your “selfishness” of not wanting to be alone. :)
  
- Sep27
  
  whoneedsflowers.blogspot.com
  
  I frequently wish for a tape reorder (do they still make these things — maybe it’s now an app?) in my head because my best thinking is done with a toothbrush in my mouth and by the time I’ve dropped it so is the thught. Which was brilliant you know.
  
Sep14

Corte Jezek

ummm, in the ” #2 ” thing to do, ‘The’ is spelled ‘hte’ sorry to be that guy… @ Hotspurwriting twitter

- Sep14
  
  Andrea Balt
  
  Oh! No worries. I like “that guy,” we need more typo-friendly friends. :) Thanks! Just fixed.
  
Sep16

Braja Sorensen

Love love love it….used Kurt’s 8 steps in writing Lost & Found in India…well, since it’s not published til November, let’s see how well that worked…!! I also love Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Essays in the Art of Writing,” so much in there… “And perhaps there is no subject on which a man should speak so gravely as that industry, whatever it may be, which is the occupation or delight of his life; which is his tool to earn or serve with; and which, if it be unworthy, stamps himself as a mere incubus of dumb and greedy bowels on the shoulders of labouring humanity. On that subject alone even to force the note might lean to virtue’s side.”

- Sep19
  
  Andrea Balt
  
  Really looking forward to your book. I’ll check Stevenson for a next post. “…perhaps there is no subject on which a man should speak so gravely as that industry, whatever it may be, which is the occupation or delight of his life; which is his tool to earn or serve with;” ~ Amen or what?
  
Dec11

Michael Beck

As the lovely wise Mrs. Parker once said,“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.” I’m not sure though, E.B’s little book has such grave implications.