3 Minimalist Fiction Classics That Show How Less Can Be More in Your Writing
And how that can help.
“For sale: baby shoes, never worn”, by Ernest Hemingway (maybe), is often used as an example of how less can be more when we write.
Copywriters and online writers often look to minimalist writing like this for inspiration in their quest to capture ever-decreasing attention spans. Minimalist writers avoid adverbs, allow context to dictate meaning, and use hints and innuendo to force readers to take an active role in the story — in other words, to encourage engagement with the content. There’s a wealth of minimalist writing to study, and it’s fantastically entertaining too.
Minimalist writing is at its best in short stories, so here are three collections from its greatest practitioners that every writer should read:
1. Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk. The Fight Club author uses minimalism to shock in this series of horror tales.
An example from the story Guts: “Inhale. Take in as much air as you can. This story should take as long as you can hold your breath, and then just a little bit longer. So listen as fast as you can.”
2. Drown by Junot Diaz. In these semi-autobiographical stories about Dominican immigrants, Diaz uses minimalism to evoke the reality of English as a second language.
An example from the story Negocios: “How much English do you know? None, Papi said after a moment. Eulalio shook his head. Papi met Eulalio last and liked him least.”
3. Reasons to Live by Amy Hempel. Hempel uses minimalism to highlight the impact of personal tragedy in these stories about Californians.
An example from the story Pool Night: “Grey was a junior lifeguard at the pool. He tanned to the color of the corn flakes he ate each morning, and I knew girls who saved his chewing gum.”
The best inspiration is entertaining.
