@ADGansky

8. 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. –Kurt Vonnegut

Aside from keeping our books away from cockroaches, there are a few other things we can look at here to better inform our writing process. Really, Vonnegut’s encouraging us to look at writing in a different light. We’re often told to create mystery and suspense. Why then does Vonnegut tell us to forget about it?

Because we’re too wrapped up in it. We aspire to create mystery to the determent of other, more important “rules.” Some of these rules include telling a coherent story, using foreshadowing to help illuminate the ultimate outcome. I think of Flannery O’Connor’s advice to have a story end with an action that is both genuine and unexpected, something completely in character, but that transcends character. I don’t know if O’Connor and Vonnegut ever hung out, but they probably should have. Can you imagine their conversation?

You may find yourself disagreeing. You may feel that if the reader knows where the story is going, they will get bored, call the book “predictable” and put it down. I think the key to mystery is allowing the reader to accurately “guess” the ending at the right time.

As Brandon Sanderson says on Writing Excuses (which, by the way, if you don’t listen to this podcast, you should. Find them on the iTunes store. It’s free and totally helpful, though slanted a bit to fantasy/sci-fi), the best endings are the ones that readers “guess” a few pages before it happens. They’re able to do so, because the writer has taken the time to set it up with foreshadowing and a healthy amount of detail. Essentially, you tell your readers the ending ahead of time, and they feel like they “guess” it. That way, at the end of the book, they’re satisfied, and they feel better about themselves.

If they can’t accurately guess the end, they’ll feel like you’ve tricked them. If they guess too early, then they’ll call you predictable. Like Johnny Cash, we’ve a fine line to walk.

In case you missed the rest of the series here are the links:

As Writers We Must Use Our Pages Wisely – Part 1
The “Root” of Fiction – Part 2
Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 Rules for Writing Fiction – Part 3
Kurt Vonnegut’s Fourth Rule for Writing – Part 4
Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 rules for Writing Fiction – Part 5
Kurt Vonnegut’s Sixth Rule for Writing Fiction – Part 6
Kurt Vonnegut’s Seventh Rule for Writing Fiction – Part 7
Kurt Vonnegut’s Eighth (and Final) Rule for Writing Fiction – Part 8

In addition to being a loving father and husband, Aaron Gansky is an award-winning novelist and author, teacher, and podcast host. In 2009, he earned his M.F.A in Fiction at the prestigious Antioch University of Los Angeles, one of the top five low-residency writing schools in the nation. Prior to that, he attained his Bachelor of Arts degree in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from California State University of San Bernardino.

He lives in quiet little town in the high desert of southern California with his family.