Supples’ Pub

I found this link via Churbuck’s never-ending pearls of wisdom, a short guide on writing with style by Kurt Vonnegut. There are lots of good nuggets in there, mainly the kind of stuff where you say “Yeah, that makes sense and I guess I knew that, but it didn’t click until I just read it.”

The passage below is particularly important from my POV: if you don’t care about the topic you’re writing on, it will show. In an individual article or writing, it will show in your writing style plain as day. In today’s web2.0 blog world, it will show in the frequency with which you talk about it. Why do I ramble about cars so much? That’s is one of my top, huge, high priority main interests. Speaking of which, I’ve got several sweet new car mags waiting for me to read at the gym…yeah, gotta get to the gym.

Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, and not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.

I am not urging you to write a novel, by the way–although I would not be sorry if you wrote one, provided you genuinely cared about something. A petition to the mayor about a pothole in front of your house or a love letter to the girl next door will do.

Source: How to write with style