• Literature

    How To Write a Book

    I occassionally like to pretend that I’m going to write a book someday, but unless I’ve been writing in my sleep without knowing it, this isn’t likely to happen. I do, however, still enjoy reading about writing. I have a shelf full of writing guides and memoirs as proof of that. Wired’s Steve Silberman recently asked 23 authors what they wish they’d known before attempting to write a book, and he listed their answers in a blog post. The core advice seems to be: Download Scrivener – the beloved Mac writing/organization tool, now with a Windows beta. Write something, fool – write every day, no matter how you feel, no…

  • Literature

    Kurt Vonnegut’s Eight 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. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water. Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action. Start as close to the end as possible. 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. Write to please just one person. If…