A grateful curtsey (in place of an anachronistic tip of the hat, or H/T) to the person who tweeted a link to the Brain Pickings article about Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 keys to power of the written word.

Here’s his list. Click on the link to find out what Vonnegut has to say about each one.

1. Find a subject you care about
2. Do not ramble, though
3. Keep it simple
4. Have the guts to cut
5. Sound like yourself
6. Say what you mean to say
7. Pity the readers
8. For really detailed advice…