What makes a good story

By Kurt Vonnegut

Hey you beautiful people! Long time no see I know, ‘‘life” is happening these days.

These days, I am also working on my book. I can’t tell you what really it is about, but in this writing process, I am actually reading about writing as a skill. I came across these very succinct, very precise storytelling techniques by the master storyteller himself, Kurt Vonnegut. He basically has 8 simple rules to follow, almost like north star metrics to write a short story. These 8 points make a story from a vanilla story to a tight legendary story.

Let’s go:

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

2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for. There HAS to be one.

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

4. Every sentence must do one of two things: reveal character, advance the action.

5. Start as close to the end as possible (one of my favs). Makes the plot very tight.

6. Be a sadist. make awful things happen to your character, so that they can come out of it and show a transformation arc.

7. Write to please just one person. If you try to please everyone, your story becomes messy.

8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible.

Try this short exercise, whenever you read, watch a story, think about these archetypes. Almost all legendary stories follow this format.

You can also watch this video for more insights:

Thanks for reading! See you in the next one