Listen:
If there’s any celebrity I could be accused of having an obsession with [and may or may not have gotten an ill-advised tattoo in the honor of], it’s the late, great Kurt Vonnegut.
And I think Vonnegut, himself once a newspaperman, while being lauded as a social critic and humorist, was never credited with being a damned good writer. Mostly because he was so good you didn’t notice. Well, I came across this quote of his on writing:
1. Find a subject you care about.
2. Do not ramble, though.
3. Keep it simple.
4. Have the guts to cut.
5. Sound like yourself.
6. Say what you mean to say.
7. Pity the readers.
I think my favorite is “pity the readers.” We put them through such a hard time just to hear what we have to say, don’t we?
Tags: Kurt Vonnegut, writing
