In Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut Jr speaks of a character that he had dropped while editing the first draft of that novel. The character was a Doberman Pinscher who was the guard dog of the Martimo Brothers Construction Company. Vonnegut warns other writers to be wary of characters that are as strong as Kazak the guard dog because once exiled in editing they don’t always stay exiled.
In the novel, Vonnegut himself meets his main character – Kilgore Trout – as he is walking past Martimo Brothers Construction yard. Vonnegut was there to allow Kilgore to meet his creator, yet as they begin their strange discourse, Kazak rematerializes and attacks Vonnegut.
Strong characters will do that to a writer.
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