8 Rules for Writing Fiction by Kurt Vonnegut
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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 only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. Now 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.
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 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.
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Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was an American writer. In a career spanning over 50 years, Vonnegut published 14 novels, three short story collections, five plays, and five works of non-fiction..
Come check out the Kurt Vonnegut Society at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.
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Kurt Vonnegut is one of the premier writers of dark humor and satire. See lots of great KV titles at Amazon.com.
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Very interesting and my only disagreement is starting as close to the end as possible. I see his point in terms of shorter fiction, but then I take a book like It or The Stand and even Gatsby where either the story encompasses generations (It), the time of the piece requires/warrants more (Gatsby/the Sun Also Rises) or it’s an epic tale (The Stand). I’d love to hear some feedback, and do think his rules are awesome as applied to the short story or flash fiction. Some times you just want to come, and other times you want to enjoy every curve of her body for as long as possible.
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I think he was just expressing some opinion, with a little comedy. Of course you cannot condense everything in 8 steps.
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