Eight rules, and the famous one is third: every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water. The first is the moral spine of the list — use a stranger’s time in such a way that they will not feel it was wasted. The best line isn’t a rule at all: write to please just one person, because if you open a window and make love to the world, your story will get pneumonia. Vonnegut reads them aloud.