Pass The Fucking Bechdel Test! & Other General Considerations

• Particularly for male writers: make sure you past the Bechdel test, and you pass it early. (The Bechdel test). In fact, I think it is worth making sure you pass it in your first scene with two women.
  
  
• Kurt Vonnegut's Eight rules for writing fiction includes general advice but a few interesting tidbits ("Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water," "Start as close to the end as possible.").
  
  
• We've shared it before, but I still like Elmore Leondard's 10 rules. I, particularly, like his cautions against overuse of description (#8, 9 and 10).
  
  
• As a part of the same series, one of my favorite authors, Carl Hiaasen discusses how to rip off the news.