Kurt Vonnegut’s Rules for Writers
I’d like to take a second to talk about “rules” of writing. Y’all know exactly what I’m talking about. Every book on screenwriting has a section on the rules and how not to break them. There’s advice out there stating that your work will not be taken seriously if it doesn’t follow the rules. I mean, that’s a lot of structure for a writer to adhere to, have you met us? Damn.
I hate it. I hate it so much, being told what the hell to do and not do. Being told that merit in the screenwriting world comes from rules and not skill. Do you know what happens when everyone follows the rules? Everyone starts sounding the same. Scripts start reading the same. Different stories, yeah, but same formatting, same arcs, same same same. I know this because when I was reading scripts for Pandemonium Screenplays I could pick out the writers who were following “Save the Cat” rules and Robert McKee rules and so on. Rules anesthetize words. It spreads the disease of generic.
Now, now, now. I read those books and I sometimes take a rule and apply it because it works for my story. But every time I try to stick to the rules I get booorreeddd. That said — let’s look at the brilliant Kurt Vonnegut and the rules he wrote for writers. This post is inspired by Episode 6 of the Write Along with David and Cargill podcast. This will be part one of a two part blog, I don’t want you to have to read too much, ya know, you’ve got stuff to do. Let me know what you think!
Kurt Vonnegut’s Rules for Writers - Part 1:
Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
I like this, we should all consider and respect our audience. That includes writing with the trust and knowledge that the audience is smart and will understand what you want to get across. It is offensive when I read work that obviously has no respect in my capability to follow the story.
Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
Now, I happen to write a lot of fairly unpleasant characters. But I don’t write indefensible characters, in that at least the character himself would be able to look you in the eye and defend their actions. It’s important to remember that even the most fucked up person believes that what they are doing is the best thing. Thanos is a pretty great example of that. I can’t pretend that I don’t see some reason in Thanos’s reasons to wipe out most of humanity. We root for the protagonist, but should understand the villain.
Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
I love this because it further accentuates the need to fully develop each character in your story.
Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.
This baby is seriously easier said than done. Maybe not in a screenplay, but certainly in prose. In a script, your words will be mainly action, or should be, unless you’re writing a mumble-core or Woody Allen film. The action is so important and needs to flow and read well. We should want to progress through the script because the action is so well written and each line is considered as important as the last. Most of my rewrites are going through my screenplay and deleting unnecessary action scenes. This is especially important with dialogue. Every word out of a characters mouth really should give us something to work with. There should be conscious or subconscious desires, worries, threats, shaping each bit of dialogue. This is why I always recommend killing most of those throw away words at the beginning of dialogue — names, um, like, okay, well, sure but, on and on. Speak that dialogue out loud, you’ll know if it’s believable or not.
Part 2 coming soon…