Kudlyk then obtained work as an electrician at the local oil refinery, newspaper and a magazine called October.
His writing was first published in 1957 by newspapers and magazines and then later in the collective volumes Apple bloom (Yablunevy tsvit, 1961) and Godspeed (Schaslyvoi dorohy, 1962).
He was the author of the lyrics to Volodymyr Ivasiuk's songs, I am your wing («Я — твоє крило», 1972), «Нам спокій, друже, тільки сниться» (1978), «Освідчення».
His writings have been put to music in the songs of Ihor Bilozir («Спогади літньої ночі», «Лебеді весни»), and Bohdan Yanivsky.
He wrote a libretto to several opera works of Bohdan Yanivsky, Oles Ballad «Олеська балада» (after the roman of Roman Ivanchuk Cherlene vyno «Черлене вино»), Princess Frog «Царівна Жаба», Golden chatter «Золотий гомін» (by Pavlo Tychyna), and musicals Fox Mykyta «Лис Микита», Ring of Temptation «Перстень спокуси».