By Steven Gottlieb on August 20, 2013 @ 10:12am PDT |
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Elmore Leonard died today. He probably wrote more books than you've personally read. He specialized in crime novels, usually with a doublecross and always with pitch-perfect dialog.
Even if you don't read his books, you should read his 10 rules of writing. It won't necessarily make your treatments or story pitches better, and it might not make you feel better about yourself, but such is life. Or at the very least, remember this one rule:
My most important rule is one that sums up the 10.
If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.
Check it via this 2001 Leonard article in the NY Times, Writers On Writing: Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Especially Hooptedoodle.
And remember: Don't write books ''full of rape and adverbs."
