Book review. Consider this: moments in my writing life after which everything was different (Chuck Palahniuk, 2020)

I had recently listened to Chuck Palahniuk in Tim Ferris's podcast. I got hooked immediately by Palahniuk's views on minimalism in writing. The man is right. The novelist has no business telling how the characters feel and how you should feel. 

Literary minimalism is characterized by an economy with words and a focus on surface description. Minimalist writers eschew adverbs and prefer allowing context to dictate meaning. Readers are expected to take an active role in creating the story, to "choose sides" based on oblique hints and innuendo, rather than react to directions from the writer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalism#Literary_minimalism

It was clear that Palahniuk had thought a lot about how to choose words and how to give a rhythm to the story. So to learn more of his craft, I picked up his new book on writing: Consider This: Moments In My Writing Life After Which Everything Was Different. I loved it. I recommend it if you care about improving how you communicate in writing. 

The book is his way of running a remote asynchronous writers workshop, suited to our Covid19 era. The book has great advice and some incredulous stories. 

Here are some selected quotations from the book without context. 

For a thing to endure it must be either made of granite or words. --Robert Stone

There are three types of communication: description, instruction, and exclamation (onomatopoeia). Everyone should use three types of communication. Three parts description. Two parts instruction. One part onomatopoeia. Mix to taste.

Think of a good joke. "Yesterday I walked into a bar. You know how it goes. You walk into a bar, and you expect a bartender, maybe some video poker. A man needs his distractions..."

In conversation we switch between first-, second-, and third-person points of view. The constant shift controls the intimacy and authority of our story; for instance, "I walked" has the authority of first person. Second person addresses the listeners and enlists them: "You walk." And the shift to third person controls the pace, "No guy wants," by moving from the specific "I" to the general "guy". 

So much of this book will be about recognizing what good storytellers do intuitively. If you were my student, I'd tell you to shift as needed between the three POVs. Not constantly, but as appropriate to control authority, intimacy, and pace.

Create tension using a "clock". A good clock limits time, thus heightening tension. And it tells us what to expect, thus freeing our minds to indulge in the emotion of the story. 

A "gun" is a different matter. While a clock is set to run for a specified time period, a gun can be pulled out at any moment to bring the story to a climax. 

Recycle your objects. Introduce them, then hide them. Rediscover them, then hide them. Each time you bring them back, make them carry greater importance and emotion. Recycle them. In the end, resolve them beautifully. 

My degree is in journalism. I lack imagination, but I am a good listener, and my memory is decent. And for me writing fiction is about identifying patterns common to many, many lives. 

Writing is nothing if not problem solving.

What if all of our anger and fear is unwarranted? What if world events are unfolding in perfect order to deliver us to a distant joy we can't conceive of at this time? Please consider that the next ending will be the happy one.