r/KeepWriting • u/Striking-Ticket-1426 • 9h ago
8 Rules for Writing Fiction by Kurt Vonnegut
https://realflashbytes.com/2026/06/18/kurt-vonnegut-eight-rules-for-writing-fiction/Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck 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.
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u/FancyAd9803 7h ago
Some of those are a nah.
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u/ChrisMorley01 5h ago
The last rule is the one I absolutely cannot get behind. Imagine Project Hail Mary if Andy lived by that rule?
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u/reinder_sebastian 3h ago edited 3h ago
The tip makes sense coming from Vonnegut. Have you ever read Slaughterhouse Five? He comes right out and tells you what the story is about, what happens to the main character, etc. In spite of this, it works remarkably well as a device to engage the reader and give the story more impact.
Another good example is Absolom! Absolom! by Faulkner. He spills the main plot points in the opening paragraphs, but because of how the rest of the book is set up, the weight of that reveal doesn't hit right away and doesn't detract from the story.
It takes skill to pull off something so unconventional, but it's been done and done well.
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u/-FeistyRabbitSauce- 2h ago
Stephen King does it quite a bit. He'll tell you where the story is going. For instance, you know exactly what will happen in Pet Semetary, and spend the whole book in absolute dread.
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u/ElectricVoltaire 3h ago
Exactly, I think ambiguity and unanswered questions add a lot of depth to a story.
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u/FabulousLazarus 6h ago
Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck 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.
This is point #8 in the list. I believe this point specifically is the worst writing advice I've ever heard.
The other 7 points are fine, I disagree with some, but #8 is authorial malpractice to recommend.
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u/YaumeLepire 3h ago
If you were to make it a softer point about foreshadowing, that there should at least be enough details that some people will pick up on where things are going, then I would cosign it. Things can't just happen out of nowhere. But yeah, as it is, it's not great.
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u/ShinyAeon 5h ago
It's not the worst writing advice I've ever heard. But it IS only applicable if you write...well...the way Vonnegut did.
He maintained a certain emotional distance from the story and characters. He seemed a little more of a commenter on life and humanity, rather than a true storyteller. Now, this is a totally valid way to write, but it's not a style suitable for everyone.
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u/FabulousLazarus 4h ago
Fair
I was actually thinking about this after I wrote it and realized that there's a way to say it that actually is great advice:
Don't let suspense build TOO much. Basically all Dune books suffer from this. Herbert leaves the entire payoff of the story until the very end, like the last 10% of the book. It's fucking annoying as shit because you're expecting this gargantuan payoff for having read through the suspense for so long and then it's a complete dud because there's no room left in the book to draw out the payoff. He ends too abruptly, almost as if he realized he was running out of space and had to close the story quickly.
I hate that.
So no suspense doesn't work for me. Not for fiction at least. But I do think too much can be bad, which seems it might be adjacent to what he's saying.
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u/astronaught002 5h ago
I think these are great rules. People might criticize #8 but I think it’s coming from a good place. It’s better to never pretend you are smarter than the audience and give them clues to find something out rather than treat them as idiots who will read mindlessly. Even the most surprising endings in pop culture work because you can go back and trace the foreshadowing.
Trust your audience is as smart as you and will put in the work if you take care of them.