The Guy Who Wrote Fight Club Just Kicked My Ass
By Keith Cronin | July 24, 2020 |
At the beginning of 2020 (which must be about 40 or 50 months ago, right?), I stumbled onto a book that literally changed how I think about writing. During an email exchange with my dear friend and fellow writer Jocosa Wade, she recommended an early novel by Chuck Palahniuk, whom I only knew as the guy who had written Fight Club.
I loved the movie by the same name, but had never read any of his novels. To be honest, I’d always been a little afraid to read him, figuring he would be way too hip, dark and cynical for me. But Jocosa convinced me it was time to take the Palahniuk plunge.
Being a perennially cheap bastard, I hit the public library. Yes, this was back in that gilded age when I would still do things like a) leave the house, b) go to a public library – or any other public place, and c) actually touch books – or anything else that other people had likely touched. Ah, such sweet pre-Covid memories!
In searching the library’s catalog, I noticed Palahniuk had just released a new nonfiction book: a writing how-to called Consider This. The book had just come out that month, but to my amazement my local library system already had a few copies, so I nabbed one. My three-word review is below:
DAMN, it’s good.
Seriously, after just the first two chapters, I put the book down and got on the computer to order my own copy for my Kindle, so I could begin taking notes in it. Yeah, it’s that good. The thoughts and ideas Palahniuk shares are clearly stated and directly actionable, not pie-in-the-sky theoretical stuff. And he has such a unique way of looking at some of the most basic components and mechanics of storytelling, which he explains in ways that immediately make sense.
I’ve read a TON of writing how-to’s (it literally is my idea of a good time on a wild Friday night), and it’s been impossible not to notice that many of them are expressing VERY similar ideas. Not Chuck. He looks at writing in some ways that are completely new to me. And he’s a marvelous teacher.
For example, Chuck suggests that we incorporate these three elements in our storytelling: description, instruction, and either exclamation or onomatopoeia.
Instruction? Onomatopoeia? Wait, what? Here’s how Palahniuk clarifies this directive:
Most fiction consists of only description, but good storytelling can mix all three forms. For instance, “A man walks into a bar and orders a margarita. Simple enough. Mix three parts tequila and two parts triple sec with one part lime juice, pour it over ice, and—voilà—that’s a margarita.”
Using all three forms of communication creates a natural, conversational style. Description combined with occasional instruction and punctuated with sound effects or exclamations: It’s how people talk.
Throughout the book, Palahniuk repeatedly touches on tangible, nuts-and-bolts aspects of writing in ways I have never before seen discussed.
Attribution and adoption
For example, Palahniuk has a number of insights regarding dialogue attribution (also known as dialogue tags – basically, the “she said” and “he said” that identifies the speaker in a passage of dialogue). I’ve seen a lot of guidance about attribution in my study of fiction writing, and most of it is very consistent, and VERY similar, and can usually be boiled down to this: You really can’t go wrong with only using “said” (as opposed to gasped, blurted, groaned, etc.).
Palahniuk doesn’t even touch on that aspect of attribution. Instead, his first concern is that we make sure to include enough of it:
Too often we see page-long cascades of unattributed speech… Soon enough we’re confused and counting backward to establish who said what.
Chuck hates this. But more importantly, he tells us why:
Avoid making your reader feel foolish at all costs! You want to make your reader feel smart, smarter than the main character. That way the reader will sympathize and want to root for the main character. Scarlett O’Hara is charming and smart and can convince men she’s beautiful. We have every reason to hate and resent her, but she’s too dumb to recognize that Rhett Butler is her soul mate. So we’re hooked. We feel superior and in our patronizing, condescending, voyeuristic way, we want her to smarten up. In a way, we “adopt” her.
This notion of adopting a character was new to me, and I love how it provides us more creative room than we’d have at our disposal if we were focused too exclusively on trying to make our character “likable” (a popular writing maxim that Palahniuk does NOT believe in, and he explains why later in the book).
Continuing his exploration of attribution, Palahniuk identifies another important function it can serve: controlling the delivery of dialogue. You can do this by being very specific about where in the dialogue the attribution is inserted. As an example:
“Nurse,” he said, “hurry and get me a fresh pancreas.”
Palahniuk maintains that this construct can create the kind of dramatic pause an actor would insert, and points out how without it, “a reader will race through a line without realizing how it should be weighted.” This is a technique I’ve used instinctively for many years, but in all my studies I’ve never seen it pointed out and explained. While Chuck talks about “weight,” I’ve always thought of it in terms of rhythm, but we’re both working towards the same goal. He just actually knows what the hell he’s doing.
Another attribution option he suggests is using physical action to both identify the speaker and emphasize (or contradict) what is being said:
“Vampires?” Declan smirked, but his hand flew to his chest, to where he’d worn a crucifix as a child. “You’re talking nonsense.”
Continuing his exploration of the mechanics of dialogue, Palahniuk points out how you can highlight or diminish a character based on whether you put their dialogue in quotes or simply paraphrase them. For example:
- “You never call me anymore,” Jane said.
- Jane complained about me never calling her.
Palahniuk sums it up better than I can: “If you want to negate or lessen a character, paraphrase what they say. When you want to showcase a character, put their dialogue in quotation marks. Include attribution. Underscore the speech with a gesture. It’s a subtle effect, but if you were my student, I’d tell you it works.”
The writer as authority figure
Palahniuk is also big on what he calls “establishing authority” – essentially getting the reader to believe your story, no matter how outlandish – and stay engaged. He offers a variety of ways to do this, one of which comes down to the kind of verbs you use:
Action carries its own authority. If you move through each scene with clear, physical verbs—taking steps, touching objects—your reader’s mind will follow as closely as a dog’s eyes track a squirrel.
Another approach Palahniuk offers for establishing authority is to deeply immerse yourself in the character’s point of view, using language and concepts your character would use. As he elaborates:
You and I never walk into the same room as each other. We each see the room through the lens of our own life. A plumber enters a very different room than a painter enters.
This means you can’t use abstract measurements. No more six-foot-tall men. Instead you must describe a man’s size based on how your character perceives a man whose height is seventy-two inches. A character might say “a man too tall to kiss” or “a man her dad’s size when he’s kneeling in church.”
Chuck admits this can be a lot of work, but maintains that it eventually gets easier – and can be a lot of fun. But for those who might think this is essentially a form of escapism, he counters with this:
Getting inside a character might seem like a vacation from being you. But face it, you’re never not you. No matter what world you create you’re always dealing with your own shit. Same shit, different mask. You’ve chosen to explore a certain character because something about it resonates with you. Don’t pretend for a moment that writing as a different person is evading reality. If anything it allows you a greater freedom to explore parts of yourself you wouldn’t dare consciously examine.
Common sense that kicks ass
I’ll be the first to admit: Some of the insights in this book aren’t earth-shaking. Reading them, it’s easy to say, “Hey, that’s just common sense.”
But here’s the thing. I think about writing a lot. Like, a LOT a lot. (That’s a helluva lot, if you haven’t figured that out.) And some – hell, most – of these “common sense” ideas Chuck is sharing are ones I never thought about before. What I’m saying is: If my common sense had an ass (sorry for the visual), or perhaps if my common sense actually were an ass (even sorrier for where that might have taken your imagination), Chuck just kicked it. Hard.
But that’s okay. When it comes to learning something new about something I care about, I genuinely LIKE getting my ass kicked.
And with that, I will retire my quest to use the word “ass” more times than it has ever appeared in a single WU post. Aim high, I always say. Particularly in public urinals.
Postcards and personal glimpses
Interspersed with all this writing advice, Palahniuk shares a series of personal anecdotes he calls “postcards from the tour.” These are probably my least favorite parts of the book, each one a mini-essay about his experiences during his many major book tours. These focus not so much on writing, but on a rarified “rock star” world that is VERY far removed from most writers’ experiences. Frankly I had no idea just how famous Palahniuk has become, but the guy has some pretty wild tales from his book tours and celebrity encounters, which would likely be of interest mostly to his more rabid fans. That said, each of these essays does contain some kind of life lesson, so they are not mere vanity. And they sure don’t make for dull reading!
When you assume, you make an… no, I won’t say that word again.
I started reading Consider This knowing next to nothing about Palahniuk. But as I read it, I realized I had made some assumptions about him, which this book completely destroyed. For one, because of the strong anarchy theme in Fight Club, I assumed he was not a person who’d put much formal thought into the act of writing. I figured he had kind of a loose “punk rock” approach, and that his voice – and his story ideas – had just come naturally to him.
It never occurred to me that he had actually studied extensively with other writers and workshops, and had a deep understanding and appreciation for craft. Nor had I assumed that he was particularly well read. He absolutely is, and he offers some excellent lists of recommended books, stories and authors, and he goes so far as to identify the specific things we should look for and learn from them. My TBR list got significantly longer after reading this book!
Bottom line, this guy has totally paid his dues as a writer, and his seemingly effortless conversational and informal tone is the result of a LOT of thinking, analysis, and hard work on building his craft. With Consider This, Palahniuk is being extremely generous in sharing what he knows, and I for one am grateful.
A new classic from a surprising source
As I mentioned, I’m a big fan of writing how-to’s – hell, I eat them for breakfast (which could explain why I have such a hard time losing weight). While I enjoy most of them, there have only been a few that really earned the distinction of becoming a “classic” in my eyes.
Stephen King’s On Writing is one – the highest praise I give it is that even if you’re not a fan of King’s novels, there is still a lot every writer can learn from this how-to. My favorite is the audio version, which King narrates himself. Even after churning out a gazillion books over the decades, the guy’s enthusiasm for writing is utterly contagious.
Donald Maass’s books are also in this hallowed category, with Writing the Breakout Novel being my personal favorite. Donald has such a gift for pushing us to elevate our game as writers. My experience with literary agents is that a good one can usually spot when something isn’t working in your manuscript, but very few can tell you accurately what to DO about it. Donald can, and his books capture his thought processes – and his actionable solutions – beautifully.
I’m now adding Palahniuk’s book Consider This to this lofty pantheon. He is a fascinating, intelligent and philosophical guy, who is deeply steeped in the craft of writing. Most importantly, he is an extremely effective and generous teacher who offers tons of clear, actionable advice for writers. Whether you connect with Palahniuk’s fiction or not, I submit you will learn much from his how-to, in ways that you can directly apply to YOUR style of writing.
But beware – he just might kick your ass, too.
How about you?
What’s the last time a how-to book or other writing resource kicked your ass? Tell us all about it, and – more importantly – let us know where can we go to get OUR asses kicked, too! Please chime in, and above all, stay safe and healthy.
Author of the novels Me Again (originally published by Five Star/Gale), and Tony Partly Cloudy (published under his pen name Nick Rollins), Keith Cronin (he/him) is a corporate speechwriter and professional rock drummer who has performed and recorded with artists including Bruce Springsteen, Clarence Clemons, and Pat Travers. Keith’s fiction has appeared in Carve Magazine, Amarillo Bay, The Scruffy Dog Review, Zinos, and a University of Phoenix management course. A native of South Florida, Keith spends his free time serenading local ducks and alligators with his ukulele.
Keith, I loved Consider This, too. You recommended it on the WU page on Facebook and I jumped on it. I listened to it in audio and it was terrific with all of those hilarious anecdotes that solidified the concepts he was discussing. Totally great.
On Writing was a fun read because I enjoy King’s voice, but I didn’t find the advice particularly helpful. It’s not really a “how to” and reads more like a writing memoir, to me. Still valuable however.
Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style is written by a senior copy editor at Random House who is a real smart ass in the best way. It’s very tongue in cheek and funny. I enjoyed that one.
Story Trumps Structure by Stephen James is a good one.
I also found K.M. Weiland’s Creating Character Arcs workbook interesting. The info isn’t new, necessarily, but she takes a unique approach and sometimes that’s what I need to get me unstuck on something. Definitely worth a look!
I have to add in that I liked Story Genius a lot, by Lisa Cron. The process she describes is very similar to my own, but I still found some useful prompts in it, and David Corbett’s The Art of Character is one of the deeper, more meaningful character guides I’ve ever read. Terrific.
I’m guilty of enjoying craft books, myself, as you can see! Lol.
Great post and thanks for the recs
Thanks, Heather – those are some good ones you listed! I guess the main thing I get from King is the sheer love of writing – each time I re-read or re-listen to it, he gets me jazzed about writing again. It’s like a battery recharger for me.
I got the Dreyer book for Christmas, but haven’t read it yet. Looks like fun.
Story Trumps Structure is a new one on me – I’ll definitely check it out. Thanks again!
Heather, I loved Dreyer’s English too—he is a wise wiseguy. I hear great things about Story Trumps Structure too.
I just finished The Situation and the Story by Vivian Gornick, which deals with writing essays and memoirs (I’m writing a memoir) and I liked it, if I argued with it from time to time. I am looking into getting Mary Karr’s (author of The Liars’ Club) respected book on memoir.
Keith, you very much made me want to get Consider This. In the meantime, get me a fresh pancreas.
Tom, you’re a discerning man, to understand that you *never* want to go with frozen pancreas. Always insist on fresh!
Most of what I know about pancreases I learned from Weird Al Yankovic (just as everything I know about the laws of thermodynamics I learned from Flanders & Swann).
I think my favourite bit is when he sings that his pancreas attracts every other pancreas in the universe with a force proportional to the product of their masses, and inversely proportional to the distance between them.
Laughter and learning make good buddies, it turns out.
Laughing so hard.
Tom, the Memoir Project by Mary Roach is excellent. I’m looking forward to yours.
Thanks, Keith, for making me aware of a valuable resource I knew nothing about. Your sampling of Palahniuk’s counsel has hooked me. Like you, I’ve greatly appreciated Donald Maass’s books (my favorite is “The Emotional Craft of Fiction”), and currently I’m getting beat up by John Gardner’s books on writing fiction, especially in regard to being more fully and deeply honest about characters and their actions and thoughts, and about recognizing and seeking the dreamlike power of a truly vivid story. I also am currently benefitting from rereading Eudora Welty’s little book “On Writing” and the deep good sense that permeates her advice. Thanks again for pointing us to another good helpful voice in Palahniuk.
Thomas, thanks for reminding me about Gardner. His stuff has been on my radar for a long time, but for some reason I’ve not yet read any.
Our library opened a couple of weeks ago (with a mask mandate – yay!) and I was there on the second day. The books I got went into a bag, hand sanitizer was used before I got in the car, and the books went into quarantine for a week. But I have books!
I’ll definitely check out Consider This. I’m always looking for insights that help me elevate my writing game, especially when it comes to description. I’m a visual person, but translating what I see with my writer’s eye into words on the page for others to “see” has always been difficult. Your bit above already has me hooked, so I’m looking forward to explore all the nooks and crannies you allude to in the post.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Lara, I’d been considering a similar protocol for the library, since I used to go there at least once a week, and I really miss it.
One fun quarantine technique here in South Florida is to simply leave something in your car for a few days – the insane heat bakes away any of the evil cooties!
Lara have you read DESCRIPTION by Monica Wood, in the Elements of Fiction Writing series? I learned a lot from it, and the examples are so well-written that it was a joy to read.
Ooh – sounds like one I need to look into!
I suck at description. Seriously. My description is as bad as… something that’s really not good. See what I mean?
Thanks, Kathryn!
I resemble that remark ;)
I haven’t ever heard of it, but will be finding a copy this weekend! Thanks for the recommendation!
Okay, I’m adding Consider This to my craft shelf today, to sit alongside Mr. Maass, Mr. King, and Mr. Corbett, along with EM Forster, Ursula Le Guin, and Elizabeth George. George’s book isn’t so much a ‘how to’ as a ‘why to’ for me, a series of essays and journal entries that let you peek into the writer’s brain. Because I loved her novels, getting into her head this way was something I needed when I first read it, some fifteen years ago. And on a recent re-read, it held up. I love the generosity of these writers for offering their wisdom in so many different ways. Thanks, Keith, for both the info and the visuals.
I agree that the LeGuin book is excellent. Thanks for mentioning it. Very down to earth while being deeply insightful.
Thanks, Susan. Most of those are familiar, but I didn’t know about Forster or Elizabeth George. More good stuff to check out!
It’s called ‘Write Away’, FYI.
I second the vote on Elizabeth George’s “Write Away.” I stole the term “Pathological Maneuver” from that book. (Yes, Elizabeth knows about the theft. She’s flattered, or at least pretends to be.)
Great post, Keith. Should I admit I have never seen Fight Club? But I do possess many of the tutorials and musings on writing suggested here. And I enjoyed the details you shared from this book. Thanks.
Beth, Fight Club (the movie) is dark and intense, but very gripping, with great performances from all the main actors. Worth a look, but not surprisingly, there’s a lot of violence.
I’ve started reading the novel it’s based on, and it’s also very good, and I immediately recognize some of the techniques Palahniuk describes in Consider This. So he’s definitely a guy who practices what he preaches.
Keith: The second I saw today’s blog title I knew you wrote it. Even while titling, you have demonstrated Palahniuk’s assertion that you can’t avoid being “you” in your writing.
You also exemplified great reviewing by making it not just about the book, but your relationship to it. This context is how we readers can make sense of a review. It also raises reviewing to its own art form (context: former dance critic here).
Well done.
Also, throughout, I pictured your ass in a unitard.
Kathryn, you saucy minx, you! :)
Thanks for the thoughtful words – and for my first genuine LOL of the day!
Kathryn: I had the exact same reaction to the title (see below). He can run, but he can’t hide.
Keitharino:
I knew by the title alone who had written this post.
Great piece. I’m teaching a class at Litreactor at the moment — the online “university” CP founded — and I intend to share this with my students as soon as I’m done with this comment.
The writing book that popped my eyes open (note different metaphor, body part, etc.) was Steven James’s STORY TRUMPS STRUCTURE. Talk about common sense that had never occurred to me: “Stories aren’t about what happens, they’re about what goes wrong…Make things worse…It’s not action but tension that keeps readers turning pages,” and so on.
And yeah, going to the library…it seems like a million years ago.
Davidius Maximus –
You’re the second commenter to mention that book. Clearly I must check it out, like, pronto.
Thanks!
Keith, I’ve always enjoyed your recommendations but what popped for me was the title of Palanhiuk’s book: Consider This. It made me think of the stars (sidera=stars) and how appropriate it is for a book about writing, the many paths we take with our stories.
The books I return to over and over are from our own Don Maass, Sol Stein and Julia Cameron. Good stuff.
Thanks, Vijaya – I always learn from your comments. Even when you disagree with me. :)
I’m already a BIG Sol Stein fan. What should I read from Julia Cameron?
Starry, starry night…I’ve been looking at the night sky a lot lately with the comet and all :)
Whenever I get into a writing slump, I turn to Right to Write and she always manages to get me out and on the page. But the first book of hers that I ever read was my neighbor’s copy of Vein of Gold and it was sooooo good. Her questions/exercises made me dig deep, into the scary places.
Keith: I’m already 1/3 of the way through Consider This based on your recommendation, and I love it. I adore actionable advice presented in straightforward terms, and it’s fun to see the author using his own techniques in the book itself.
That straightforward approach is probably why one of my favorite craft books is Dwight Swain’s Techniques of the Selling Writer. It’s dated and dense–and I haven’t cracked it open in years, so maybe I’d see it differently now–but crammed full of clear steps. More geared toward mechanics than elevated fiction like CP, but I dog-eared the hell out of it as a newer writer, and it had a profound impact on my approach.
I have a freshly drafted book sitting in time out (they’re always better for a week or two of aging), and I’ll be taking some of CP’s lessons into the revision stage, and into the new series simmering in the back of my mind.
Fantastic review. Thanks!
Also, I’m clearly failing at avoiding commas and using short, choppy sentences… ;-)
Ooh, I think it’s about time to treat myself to a writing book. You’ve sold me, Keith. Thanks for the recommendation.
I have a ton of craft books, but the ones I return to most often are Don’s Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook. (I use it as a touchstone when the first draft is written, just to see where I could amp things up.) Also Peter Dunne’s Emotional Structure–A Guide for Screenwriters. (I write intuitively but it helps me see my story’s plot points more clearly.) Another one I love-love-love is Shawn Coyne’s The Story Grid. It’s a practical distillation of Robert McKee’s work in many ways. When it comes to story analysis, the man is a genius.
Thanks for the Dunne suggestion, Jan – that’s a new one for me.
And I’m thrilled to meet another fan of Coyne’s Story Grid – isn’t it great?
test; hey, Keith! We’re back!
Hooray! I was starting to feel frozen in time…
:)
Keith-as a new writer, I often have a difficult time articulating WHY something works for me. When I read Consider This I kept taking all of these–Pow! Pow! Pow!–gut punches. THIS is what I’m supposed to be working toward. I couldn’t explain exactly why other people needed to read Palahnuik’s book, but I couldn’t stop telling them they should. Now I’ll point to your review when I make my recommendation. Thank you so much! This was great.