Wednesday, May 07, 2008

KURT VONNEGUT

Creo que esto ya lo había posteado alguna vez, pero me parece buenísimo y fundamental para escribir, sobre todo el último párrafo. El que no haya leído a Vonnegut puede empezar por Slaughter House Five, un libro sumamente bizarro y muy bueno sobre un tipo abducido por aliens (suena muy mal, lo sé, pero prometo que es un a joya) durante el bombardeo a Dresden. O algo por el estilo!

Por cierto ya escuche completo el "Third" de Portishead y Griselle tiene razóin, es muy, muy bueno. Me gustó Machine Gun y Small.

Les dejo las reglas de K.V.



Kurt Vonnegut: 8 Basics of Creative Writing

Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut created some of the most outrageously memorable novels of our time, such as Cat’s Cradle, Breakfast Of Champions, and Slaughterhouse Five. His work is a mesh of contradictions: both science fiction and literary, dark and funny, classic and counter-culture, warm-blooded and very cool. And it’s all completely unique.

With his customary wisdom and wit, Vonnegut put forth 8 basics of what he calls Creative Writing 101: *

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.

The greatest American short story writer of my generation was Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964). She broke practically every one of my rules but the first. Great writers tend to do that.

* From the preface to Vonnegut’s short story collection Bagombo Snuff Box

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous3:06 PM

    Buenazo! empece hace poco a escribir cuentos cortos. tengo dos. pero lo interesante ( segun yo y mis pinches cuentos) es que hago las ilustraciones primero. son casi autobiograficos, y ahora le quiero dar el twist. bueno ya esta lista me encanto.

    gracias.

    a veces parece que nadie nos lee vdd? haha.

    e.

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