@ADGansky Write to please just one person. –Kurt Vonnegut Vonnegut is not alone in his call for laser-focused literature. Stephen King, in his book On Writing discusses a similar idea. He mentions that every writer has an ideal reader, and should hold that ideal reader in their mind as they’re…

@ADGansky 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’re made of.–Kurt Vonnegut No one likes to betray a friend, but we sometimes feel that way when we make bad things happen to…

@ADGansky Start as close to the end as possible. –Kurt Vonnegut Some time ago, I had a student approach me to ask my opinion on something they were working on. The story opened inside a hospital with the birth of a child. I liked the idea immediately, and anticipated some…

@ADGansky 4. Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action. –Kurt Vonnegut I love the simplicity Vonnegut uses when asserting his rules, but sometimes I wonder if we need a little extra, especially for beginning writers. At first, this rule just makes perfect sense, but if…

@ADGansky In continuing my exploration of Kurt Vonnegut’s eight rules for writing fiction, this time we’ll dive into his third rule. Like the others, it’s both simple and profound. In case you missed the rest of the series here are the links: As Writers We Must Use Our Pages Wisely…

@ADGansky Last month, I began looking at Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 rules for writing fiction. I’ll continue my dissection of his rules this month and look at the second rule. This one’s pretty juicy, guys. You ready? Here it is: Give the reader at least one character he or she can…