Writing for Style - Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., who died in April 2007 at the age of 84, was one of the most playfully distinctive stylists in modern American literature.

I was introduced to Vonnegut through Cats Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five and I was completely captivated. I had never read anything like those books and, I guess, neither had anyone else.

He also had some useful stylistic advice to pass along. In 1982, Vonnegut wrote a short piece for the International Paper Company titled simply, "How to Write with Style." He begins the essay by considering why we should strive to improve our writing style.

"Do so as a mark of respect for your readers, whatever you’re writing. If you scribble your thoughts any which way, your readers will surely feel that you care nothing about them. They will mark you down as an egomaniac or a chowderhead--or worse, they will stop reading you."

He then offers seven deceptively simple principles:

• Find a subject you care about.
• Do not ramble, though.
• Keep it simple.
• Have the guts to cut.
• Sound like yourself.
• Say what you mean to say.
• Pity the readers.

There's more on the Kurt Vonnegut Jr. page of Writing Tips at Moore Partners.