Elmore Leonard's Rules For Writing

Elmore Leonard's Rules for Writing
by
Tina Novinski

These rules, transcribed off a cocktail napkin, were shared with the audience of Bouchercon 2000 at the presentation of the Anthony Awards for mystery authors. The transcriber takes great liberty with Mr. Leonard's speech due to the lateness of hour, darkness of the banquet room, the excitement sizzling in the air, and the consumption of numerous cocktails.

Don't write what the reader will skip over anyhow.
Never open your book with weather.
Never begin with a prologue
Never describe the physical look of a character in such great detail it takes away from the reader's imagination.
Use exclamation points sparingly.
Never use another verb in place of said.
Never let your writing sound like writing.
Never use an adverb to modify said.
Never us a colon or semi colon in dialogue. The same is true of ellipsis, dash and italics.
Tell your editor to tell the copy editor not to mess with your punctuation.
Don't show your manuscript to anyone outside the business until you are satisfied with it.

Tina Novinski lives, writes and imbibes in Littleton, Colorado.