Sunday, August 12, 2012

on writing - kurt vonnegut

These are Vonnegut's tips for writing short stories, though I think they
 could apply to all types of fiction writing as well.

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not
feel the time was wasted.

2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

3. Every character should want something, even if it is a glass of water.

4. Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or
advance action.

5. Start as close to the end as possible.

6. Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading
characters, make awful things happen to them—that the reader may see
what they are made of.

7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love
to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible.
To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding
of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story
themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

Via Huffington Post

By Kai Carpenter

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