Elmore Leonard was a prolific author who wrote many best selling novels including Punch Drunk, Get Shorty and Maximum Bob, some of which were made into movies. I enjoyed many of Elmore’s novels. He came up with Ten Rules of Writing, which I follow. I’d like to share them with the readers of my blog.
Elmore Leonard’s Ten Rules of Writing
- Never open a book with weather.
- Avoid prologues.
- Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.
- Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said”…he admonished gravely.
- Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.
- Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.”
- Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
- Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
- Don’t go into great detail describing places and things.
- Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.
My most important rule is one that sums up the 10.
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My summarization of Elmore’s Ten Rules is to let action and dialog carry your story. Show the action to your readers, don’t tell them what they should feel. When an author does his job right and remains invisible, readers will draw their own conclusions.
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