Collin and I dug up the rest of the eight rules. Here they are:
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. 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. 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.
I particularly liked 7 as well. Applies to music too!
RIP to one of the bests.
"Speak your mind even if your voice shakes" ~ M Kuhn
Kurt was a genius and I loved all of his books, especially 'Breakfast of Champions'.
Another of his good books 'Mothernight' was made into an amazing film staring Nick Nolte, with a cameo appearance by Vonnegut himself. It is where the quote:
'We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.'
comes from. It's about an American playwright living in Nazi Germany who is asked by the government to become a spy. I won't go into any more details, but if it gets shown on tv soon as a part of a tribute to Vonnegut then I would recommend anyone watch it.
Comments
he is a true immortal. still, im having trouble forcing myself to smile over this event.
to dust i guess,
forgotten and absorbed into the earth below,..
You did all the digging, I just received the treasure... and don't you deny it
naděje umírá poslední
If you hadn't asked, I wouldn't have dug them up
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
I particularly liked 7 as well. Applies to music too!
RIP to one of the bests.
Brilliant.
Hooray for our team.
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Another of his good books 'Mothernight' was made into an amazing film staring Nick Nolte, with a cameo appearance by Vonnegut himself. It is where the quote:
'We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.'
comes from. It's about an American playwright living in Nazi Germany who is asked by the government to become a spy. I won't go into any more details, but if it gets shown on tv soon as a part of a tribute to Vonnegut then I would recommend anyone watch it.