

How to Write with Style (Kurt Vonnegut) - smanek
http://literature.sdsu.edu/onWRITING/vonnegutSTYLE.html

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defunkt
I've always suspected Vonnegut's classification under "fiction" rather than
"science fiction" is a result of the way his books are written. The man's all
style - he could pretty much write about any subject and I'd find it
interesting.

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wheels
Ironically, that's exactly contrary to his first point -- to write about
something you care about.

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aaronblohowiak
That isn't necessarily true. You are mixing up defunkt's reading about
something he may not care about with the prerequisite that the author care
about the subject to write well about a subject.

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jhayes
"And lucky indeed is the writer who has grown up in Ireland, for the English
spoken there is so amusing and musical."

Jaysus! Hasn't a bleedin' notion what he's bleating on about there; we're not
like that _at_ all, like. A right lula.

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tjpick
for some reason I read that with a Scottish accent.

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msg
And I heard it totally Cockney, not that I hear much of these accents outside
of the telly (that's what you call it right?).

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themenace
Vonnegut's writing about writing is good, but PG's essay about essays is
better: <http://www.paulgraham.com/essay.html>

I also recommended: <http://www.paulgraham.com/writing44.html>

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nazgulnarsil
PG's essay on essays helped me a lot when I was stagnating. particularly his
metaphor of a river. looking at the overall flow of a piece and shaping it
with editing has immensely improved my writing. I now enjoy deciding whether
to make an essay inductive or deductive, and playing with the order in which I
introduce things to create weird effects (used a lot by one of my favorites
Douglas Adams).

~~~
maryrosecook
I've come to value structuring an argument so that it mimics the process of
reaching the conclusion.

For example, I might write an essay on gender. When I start, I might think
that there are two genders: male and female. By the end, I might have
concluded that gender is meaningless. If I stopped there, my essay would be:
gender is meaningless because a, b and c.

However, I find it more interesting to rewrite and end up with a journey
through my abandoned conclusions. This allows the reader to reason along with
me as they read, thus strengthening my conclusion. For example:

1\. There are two genders: male and female because a and b.

2\. a and b are faulty because c and d. Gender as a continuum between male and
female fits with c and d.

3\. c and d are unsound because e and f and g. Gender as a vector of n points
on n continuums might work.

4\. ...

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theantidote
This is neat, thanks! Vonnegut is one of my favorite authors; I would read his
books instead of reading the assigned books back in high school.

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dangoldin
My school had us read Slaughterhouse Five. I wish they gave us one of his
other books though.

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DaniFong
A wonderful essay that I haven't seen before. Thanks for posting.

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danhak
A great essay by one of the true geniuses of American literature. His books
should be required reading for every high school student in the country.

RIP Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

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ptn
PG recommends sending drafts to friends for revision. Does anybody know of a
website/forum/mailing list where one can do this?

~~~
delano
Email the draft to people you know.

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rw

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