Elmore Leonard always has interesting and smart things to say, but writers need to be careful not to mistake his rules for anything but the rules for writing an Elmore Leonard novel. His attitudes about not establishing place and physical descriptions come out of Hemingway and screenwriting, and they work for him, but there already seems to be an Elmore Leonard out there.
It’s funny that he mentions THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE, because that’s the novel that convinced me to stop reading much contemporary crime fiction. It was infectious in its style — it crept into mine, into my natural sense of mimicry, and I hated that. While I do occasionally read contemporary crime fiction, I prefer to re-read the writers who influenced me before I became a professional, Hammett, Chandler, Spillane, Cain, Thompson, Stout, McBain, etc. Leonard, too.
Leonard is a terrifc writer, but when he comes up with stuff like “Never open with weather,” and never use adverbs, always remember…those are his rules, and he’s already using them.
One of few writers I’ve read who’s comfortable with more dialogues than descriptions in his books. He makes a lot of writing sense in 10 RULES OF WRITING.
I remember seeing his 10 rules before. Most of them are definitely something I’d pay attention too. Some are ones I just can’t follow or it wouldn’t be my kind of writing and reading. Always fun to hear a professional’s take on the subject though
What Mr. Collins said. Sometimes an adverb makes the verb more clear. Sometimes the weather is important to what follows. What works well for him may not work well for me. But it’s always fun to read this sort of advice.
Elmore Leonard always has interesting and smart things to say, but writers need to be careful not to mistake his rules for anything but the rules for writing an Elmore Leonard novel. His attitudes about not establishing place and physical descriptions come out of Hemingway and screenwriting, and they work for him, but there already seems to be an Elmore Leonard out there.
It’s funny that he mentions THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE, because that’s the novel that convinced me to stop reading much contemporary crime fiction. It was infectious in its style — it crept into mine, into my natural sense of mimicry, and I hated that. While I do occasionally read contemporary crime fiction, I prefer to re-read the writers who influenced me before I became a professional, Hammett, Chandler, Spillane, Cain, Thompson, Stout, McBain, etc. Leonard, too.
Leonard is a terrifc writer, but when he comes up with stuff like “Never open with weather,” and never use adverbs, always remember…those are his rules, and he’s already using them.
One of few writers I’ve read who’s comfortable with more dialogues than descriptions in his books. He makes a lot of writing sense in 10 RULES OF WRITING.
I remember seeing his 10 rules before. Most of them are definitely something I’d pay attention too. Some are ones I just can’t follow or it wouldn’t be my kind of writing and reading. Always fun to hear a professional’s take on the subject though
What Mr. Collins said. Sometimes an adverb makes the verb more clear. Sometimes the weather is important to what follows. What works well for him may not work well for me. But it’s always fun to read this sort of advice.