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Elmore Leonard Writing Tips For Aspiring Writers
Here are some great writing tips from Elmore Leonard for all of you aspiring writers. A supreme stylist Leonard has been writing for over 60 years and in this clip from BBC 2s ‘The Culture Show’ he talks about the craft of writing, gives some advice to aspiring authors, his deep appreciation of Ernest Hemingway’s work and jots down three tips for viewers:
- You have to listen to your characters
- Don’t worry about what your mother thinks of your language
- Try to get a rhythm
In addition to this Leonard brought out a book in 2007 called, ‘Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules’. Here is the outline of the 10 rules:
- Never open a book with the weather
- Avoid prologues
- Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue
- Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said.”
- Keep your exclamation points under control!
- Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.”
- Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly
- Avoid detailed descriptions of characters
- Same for places and things
- Leave out the parts readers tend to skip
He has also said ‘If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.’
Via Open Culture
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