Response to Vonnegut's Rules

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
Not only obvious, but redundant as well. Make your writing worth the time it takes to read . . . is there any rule that could possibly be more apparent? Obviously all good writing has purpose, and that purpose gives the reader purpose - otherwise there is no reason to read at all. Anyone who hasn't grasped this concept really doesn't deserve to write.

2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
Also give the reader at least one character that they can hate, mull over, love, reject, and mold into their own image. All writing is subjective, who the reader roots for is something that they will choose. It is the job of the writer merely to supply the raw materials, so that the reader's imagination may work with them.

3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
I can agree with this at least because, as was stated before, purpose within the context of the writing gives purpose to the reader.

4. Every sentence must do one of two things -- reveal character or advance the action.
Every sentence is important - indeed it is imperative that writing is approached with diction that is neither overly cautious nor frivolously extravagant; however, this does not mean that every moment of every piece of fiction must be devoted solely to character and action. Some of my favorite works, such as the Lost Years of Merlin series by T.A. Barron, have devoted significant amounts of time to description and immersion, although not by sacrificing those things which you have deemed important.

5. Start as close to the end as possible.
Yes. Conciseness owns you.

6. Be a sadist. Now 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.
While it is true that terrible things may need to happen to make your story interesting, I have found often that it is more important to be accurate rather than presumptuous for the sake of excess drama. Always remember when you tell a story that it is set in stone, that your characters have already experienced these things, and that you are merely telling others about their troubles. My point is that no-one wants another Series of Unfortunate Events. Tragedy is great, but that isn't all that makes a story good or memorable. For fiction to truly speak to the reader it must be accurate; in this way the story becomes applicable to them.

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.
Agreed.

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.
This is something that must be delicately balanced. On one hand a story that is exceedingly confusing will lose its purpose very quickly, making it uninteresting. On the other hand I am bored almost immediately with a book that fulfills every prophecy I choose to make about its contents. A better way of presenting this idea might have been to say that the writer must make the characters and scenario so completely believable and understandable that the reader will be able to foresee each of the possible ways that any given situation could turn out. Predictability yields boredom to any literary aficionado.