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Kurt Vonnegut on the Shapes of Stories

David Comberg · 2.2M views · 2010-10-30 · 4:37

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Overview

A short lecture in which Kurt Vonnegut graphs the simple shapes of stories, such as Man in Hole and Boy Gets Girl. He sketches how fortune rises and falls over a narrative.

On Hacker News

HN cites it as a charming, funny way to see story structure and a source for the idea that plots have shapes.

Recommended by 5 HN people across 5 months · HN mentions 2012–2022

Topics

Literature & writing craft
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kurt vonnegutstorytellingnarrative arcswritingplot shapes

What people said

bmitc · 2020-11 · Strong recommendation

Vonnegut is really special. I always like coming back to his Shape of Stories talks: [VIDEO] Here's a longer one: [LINK] It's interesting to see the difference in him with age. He seems to giggle more as an older man.

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baconner · 2012-12 · Strong recommendation

Agreed. It's a shame to think about all the interesting things that might be getting built instead. Programming a novel generator is a great example. What a fantastic challenge being overlooked. It reminds me of this great video of Vonnegut graphing the emotional shape of stories. [VIDEO]

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jonahx · 2021-09 · Recommendation

Vonnegut drawing graphs of famous story plots: [VIDEO] I saw him do this bit in person in the early 90s and never forgot it.

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Sources

Video by David Comberg, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

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