Elmore Leonard RIP - 10 rules for writing

edited August 2013 in General Discussion Posts: 686
In honor of Elmore Leonard who died today - 10 rules for writing a thriller

1. Never open a book with weather.

2. Avoid prologues.

3. Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.

4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said”…he admonished gravely.

5. Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.

6. Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.”

7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.

8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.

9. Don’t go into great detail describing places and things.

10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

Almost half of them are the opposite to Fleming

Comments

  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited August 2013 Posts: 17,730
    Very sad to hear of his death. I had just bought a few of his novels too. I guess he was about 87 or so, though, so not perhaps altogether unexpected. I had put him down as a future Bond continuatuion novelist, but alas, not to be.
  • Posts: 14,800
    Sad news, about a great crime writer. His Djibouti left me sorely disappointed, otherwise always a great read. My first novel of him I read was Glitz.

    @Dragonpol-He was 87. I don't think he would have been any good as a Bond writer. His style was way too different from Fleming's, his universe and characters too. Leonard was not about larger than life plots and larger than life villains, but about low life thugs and small-time, badly coordinated, badly conceived crimes that were still destructive.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,730
    Ludovico wrote:
    Sad news, about a great crime writer. His Djibouti left me sorely disappointed, otherwise always a great read. My first novel of him I read was Glitz.

    @Dragonpol-He was 87. I don't think he would have been any good as a Bond writer. His style was way too different from Fleming's, his universe and characters too. Leonard was not about larger than life plots and larger than life villains, but about low life thugs and small-time, badly coordinated, badly conceived crimes that were still destructive.

    Sorry, @Ludovico. Please forgive my general ignorance regarding Elmore Leonard but I am new to him.
  • Posts: 14,800
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Ludovico wrote:
    Sad news, about a great crime writer. His Djibouti left me sorely disappointed, otherwise always a great read. My first novel of him I read was Glitz.

    @Dragonpol-He was 87. I don't think he would have been any good as a Bond writer. His style was way too different from Fleming's, his universe and characters too. Leonard was not about larger than life plots and larger than life villains, but about low life thugs and small-time, badly coordinated, badly conceived crimes that were still destructive.

    Sorry, @Ludovico. Please forgive my general ignorance regarding Elmore Leonard but I am new to him.

    That's ok.;-) Anyway, you'll see when you read him, he is very different from Fleming. The 10 rules Perdogg listed I wouldn't follow religiously, but they certainly worked for Leonard.
  • Posts: 6,396
    Ludovico wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Ludovico wrote:
    Sad news, about a great crime writer. His Djibouti left me sorely disappointed, otherwise always a great read. My first novel of him I read was Glitz.

    @Dragonpol-He was 87. I don't think he would have been any good as a Bond writer. His style was way too different from Fleming's, his universe and characters too. Leonard was not about larger than life plots and larger than life villains, but about low life thugs and small-time, badly coordinated, badly conceived crimes that were still destructive.

    Sorry, @Ludovico. Please forgive my general ignorance regarding Elmore Leonard but I am new to him.

    That's ok.;-) Anyway, you'll see when you read him, he is very different from Fleming. The 10 rules Perdogg listed I wouldn't follow religiously, but they certainly worked for Leonard.

    Every writer will have his/her own rules when it comes to writing. It's whatever work best for them.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited August 2013 Posts: 17,730
    Ludovico wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Ludovico wrote:
    Sad news, about a great crime writer. His Djibouti left me sorely disappointed, otherwise always a great read. My first novel of him I read was Glitz.

    @Dragonpol-He was 87. I don't think he would have been any good as a Bond writer. His style was way too different from Fleming's, his universe and characters too. Leonard was not about larger than life plots and larger than life villains, but about low life thugs and small-time, badly coordinated, badly conceived crimes that were still destructive.

    Sorry, @Ludovico. Please forgive my general ignorance regarding Elmore Leonard but I am new to him.

    That's ok.;-) Anyway, you'll see when you read him, he is very different from Fleming. The 10 rules Perdogg listed I wouldn't follow religiously, but they certainly worked for Leonard.

    Every writer will have his/her own rules when it comes to writing. It's whatever work best for them.

    Making these rules pretty much useless to other writers as they are mostly non-transferable then?
  • edited August 2013 Posts: 5,767
    Ah, what a shame, but I guess at his age he had it coming.

    I´m proud to say I have all of his novels up in my shelf. There is no better investment!

    RIP Elmore! Thanks for all the immensely good times I had and that I am still happily looking forward to with one of your novels!

    He wrote all of his novels with a pen. No computer or even typewriter.



    Dragonpol wrote:
    Ludovico wrote:
    Sad news, about a great crime writer. His Djibouti left me sorely disappointed, otherwise always a great read. My first novel of him I read was Glitz.

    @Dragonpol-He was 87. I don't think he would have been any good as a Bond writer. His style was way too different from Fleming's, his universe and characters too. Leonard was not about larger than life plots and larger than life villains, but about low life thugs and small-time, badly coordinated, badly conceived crimes that were still destructive.

    Sorry, @Ludovico. Please forgive my general ignorance regarding Elmore Leonard but I am new to him.
    I was now and then thinking about the idea of Leonard writing Bond. I guess it would have been a stunning novel, but no Bond novel ;-). For my taste, he was the best writer since Hammett and Chandler, and I´m not just thinking crime. But you sure have to dig his style in order to like him, he´s very unique.


    Dragonpol wrote:
    Making these rules pretty much useless to other writers as they are mostly non-transferable then?
    I would tend to say so, yes. It´s a bit like AC/DC, at first sight it looks terribly easy, but those who try mostly fail. Like anyone trying to write like Fleming so far miserably failed. I think those rules are only a small part of the reason for Leonard´s quality of writing.


  • Posts: 7,653
    May he rest in relative peace up in writers heaven. (relative due to the great discussions he can have with his fellow writers) :!!
  • Posts: 14,800
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Ludovico wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Ludovico wrote:
    Sad news, about a great crime writer. His Djibouti left me sorely disappointed, otherwise always a great read. My first novel of him I read was Glitz.

    @Dragonpol-He was 87. I don't think he would have been any good as a Bond writer. His style was way too different from Fleming's, his universe and characters too. Leonard was not about larger than life plots and larger than life villains, but about low life thugs and small-time, badly coordinated, badly conceived crimes that were still destructive.

    Sorry, @Ludovico. Please forgive my general ignorance regarding Elmore Leonard but I am new to him.

    That's ok.;-) Anyway, you'll see when you read him, he is very different from Fleming. The 10 rules Perdogg listed I wouldn't follow religiously, but they certainly worked for Leonard.

    Every writer will have his/her own rules when it comes to writing. It's whatever work best for them.

    Making these rules pretty much useless to other writers as they are mostly non-transferable then?

    I wouldn't say this. I think Leonard's rules work beautifully for crime fiction in general. Maybe one should say the rules should be what works best for the reader. What is admirable with Leonard is his efficiency: a few bits of dialogues are enough for you to picture the character, his physical presence, his mannerism, his behavior, his personality, etc.
  • edited August 2013 Posts: 5,767
    Ludovico wrote:
    What is admirable with Leonard is his efficiency: a few bits of dialogues are enough for you to picture the character, his physical presence, his mannerism, his behavior, his personality, etc.
    I agree, and it´s all the more so fascinating since he actually tends to stick to his rules, e.g. "8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters. 9. Don’t go into great detail describing places and things."



    I would like to add that Elmore Leonard, while mostly incorporating crime in his stories, had more love and heart in his books than most writers on the planet (not that I read them all), regardless of what they wrote about.
  • Posts: 14,800
    boldfinger wrote:
    Ludovico wrote:
    What is admirable with Leonard is his efficiency: a few bits of dialogues are enough for you to picture the character, his physical presence, his mannerism, his behavior, his personality, etc.
    I agree, and it´s all the more so fascinating since he actually tends to stick to his rules, e.g. "8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters. 9. Don’t go into great detail describing places and things."



    I would like to add that Elmore Leonard, while mostly incorporating crime in his stories, had more love and heart in his books than most writers on the planet (not that I read them all), regardless of what they wrote about.

    And let's not forget the rule he used to sum them up: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,730
    boldfinger wrote:
    Ludovico wrote:
    What is admirable with Leonard is his efficiency: a few bits of dialogues are enough for you to picture the character, his physical presence, his mannerism, his behavior, his personality, etc.
    I agree, and it´s all the more so fascinating since he actually tends to stick to his rules, e.g. "8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters. 9. Don’t go into great detail describing places and things."



    I would like to add that Elmore Leonard, while mostly incorporating crime in his stories, had more love and heart in his books than most writers on the planet (not that I read them all), regardless of what they wrote about.

    Yet those rules of his that you highlight there, @boldfinger - "8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters. 9. Don’t go into great detail describing places and things" -are the antithesis of what Ian Fleming did with his James Bond novels and short stories, so perhaps I was wrong to link him with the future of the James Bond continuation?

  • Posts: 14,800
    That and his age. Leonard was also more into characters than plot, the characters created the story.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,730
    Ludovico wrote:
    That and his age. Leonard was also more into characters than plot, the characters created the story.

    This also sounds like how John Gardner wrote his Bond novels and indeed his own novels - he would take a character or situation and write the novel and its plot from that beginning, which I believe is quite an odd way for an author to write a book, but it seemed to work for him.
  • edited August 2013 Posts: 5,767
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Yet those rules of his that you highlight there, @boldfinger - "8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters. 9. Don’t go into great detail describing places and things" -are the antithesis of what Ian Fleming did with his James Bond novels and short stories, so perhaps I was wrong to link him with the future of the James Bond continuation?
    Oh he would never have written anything remotely in the writing style of Fleming! His style is in fact the absolute opposite in many ways. But I wouldn't want any other author to write like Fleming in the first place. Fleming´s books were so good because Fleming did his thing. Any other author should do his respective thing, do what he does best. Trying to emulate Fleming is the biggest mistake of any Bond author, IMO.
    Leonard was the king of cool. I doubt he would have properly portrayed an Englishman, but suave guys getting girls, shooting baddies and saying cool things were never written better. And make no mistake, Leonard doesn´t mean not to portray characters or locations, quite the opposite in fact. He had an amazing talent to make people and places come alive with very few words.
  • Posts: 14,800
    boldfinger wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Yet those rules of his that you highlight there, @boldfinger - "8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters. 9. Don’t go into great detail describing places and things" -are the antithesis of what Ian Fleming did with his James Bond novels and short stories, so perhaps I was wrong to link him with the future of the James Bond continuation?
    Oh he would never have written anything remotely in the writing style of Fleming! His style is in fact the absolute opposite in many ways. But I wouldn't want any other author to write like Fleming in the first place. Fleming´s books were so good because Fleming did his thing. Any other author should do his respective thing, do what he does best. Trying to emulate Fleming is the biggest mistake of any Bond author, IMO.
    Leonard was the king of cool. I doubt he would have properly portrayed an Englishman, but suave guys getting girls, shooting baddies and saying cool things were never written better. And make no mistake, Leonard doesn´t mean not to portray characters or locations, quite the opposite in fact. He had an amazing talent to make people and places come alive with very few words.

    I think it is because in many ways Ian Fleming was a XIXth century writer, with long, detailed descriptions, larger than life villains,, romantic hero, etc.
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