At issue here is the [[Issue of Rules]] — Kurt Vonnegut's rules for writing are one thing which got woven into the peripheral concerns of this project. They're quoted below: > 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. While the matters of *character* are not quite at issue here, these rules have stuck in my head many times not only when writing but also while photographing and making art generally. Insofar as photography is typically a *narrative* form, using symbolism and the inference between the lines of imagery, I think these rules are applicable. I think the rules I found myself most tempted to break are that of purposefulness of the art (1) and brevity (5).