Writing Advice From Kurt Vonnegut

[Castle_Bravo]

I just came across an essay by Kurt Vonnegut, "How to Write with Style", which lead to "Kurt Vonnegut's 8 Rules for Writing Fiction". I found both to be illuminating and simple. I find the simplicity to be most powerful. Having rules of thumb, let's one quickly gauge if what is written is worth writing. So I thought I'd share those rules for those who haven't see them, with my own comments:

How to Write with Style:

Find a subject you care about:​

If you don't care about what you write, the audience sure won't.​

Do not ramble, though:​

Nothing else to say.​

Keep it simple:​

Say what you mean as simply and clearly as possible.​

Have guts to cut:​

You may have written the most beautiful thing in the English language, but if it doesn't advance the action, or show something about the character/setting, it has to go.​

Sound like yourself:​

Write in the manner most natural to you. Another way to say it is, "write like you speak". If you are telling this story to a friend, instead of writing on paper, how would you tell it?​

Say what you mean:​

Write to be understood. The plot maybe convoluted, but the writing never should be. A reader should be able to follow what is going on without additional explanation from the author.​

Pity the readers:​

Don't let your stylistic choices make the story harder to read.
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Kurt Vonnegut's 8 Rules for Writing Fiction:

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

Write the best story you can. Don't make the reader feel like she's wasting her time.​

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

It doesn't have to be a good character, even a likable one, but even an asshole trying to kick a bigger one in the nuts, is something that the audience can cheer on.​

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

Every character needs motivation. Motivation produces conflict, and that makes for an interesting story.​

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

Pretty self-explanatory. If your sentence is not doing one of those two things, you should cut it.​

Start as close to the end as possible.​

Don't building up to the story. Start the action ASAP!​

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

We cannot root for someone who never seems to be in jeopardy.​

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.​

Tell the story you want to tell, not the one that will make you popular.​

Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck 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.​

People will read a good story. Don't bother trying to lead them on.​