❶ Use the time of a total
stranger in such a way that he
or she will not feel the time
was wasted.
❷ Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
❸ Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
❹ Every sentence must do one of two things – reveal character or advance the
action. Start as close to the end as possible.
❺ 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.
❻ 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.
❼ Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck
with suspense.
❽ 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.
