Appreciating a Short Story

I have never give short stories much of a chance. Typically, if I see story is less than 5 hours of audiobook time I avoid it completely. But if there is one author who can get me to give the short story format a chance, it is Kurt Vonnegut. As a person who loves to write, I'm ashamed to admit that I wasn't really big on reading some of the great authors until recently. I've only gotten three books into Vonnegut's catalog (Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse Five, and Breakfast of Champions) but I do love his style. I've always wanted to write my own stories, but I'm so worried about grammar, format, and style I let myself get paralyzed. Vonnegut has a unique style I know doesn't conform to traditional writing and that's what I love about it. So it goes. 

This morning I decided to take 19 minutes out of my Saturday morning to listen the audiobook of 2BR02B (to be R naught to be) and I'm really glad I did. In 19 minutes of audiobook time or 15 pages of written work, Vonnegut managed to create a utopian/dystopian world. He, somehow, also relayed enough information for the reader to form background stories for at least five characters.

In the end, Vonnegut told a story so shocking and disturbing in 19 minutes/15 pages it has stuck with me all day. I actually took a nap after listening to it and had dreams of the world he created. That is an amazing skill. This is what I want to do. This is the purpose I want to strive to achieve. I want to write stories people feel some way about and it doesn't matter if it is a novel or 500 words of short story. 

After my experience with 2BR02B I finally took the time to start a story I've had in my mind for a long time. I don't know if it will be short, a novel, or absolutely nothing, but Vonnegut's writing inspired me to at least start taking the first steps with it. I posted it on my Medium page here.