i'm cute.”, “You know what people who go to nude beaches look like? Pin. I do this a lot with names. When you erase a line on a computer, it's gone forever. I think the best advice I give is to try not to write. Just use your own voice. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. "The Most Important Writing Tip the Late Elmore Leonard Ever Gave" by Asawin Suebsaeng, www.motherjones.com. Because they're fun. I don't want the reader to be aware of me, writing. "Elmore Leonard's rules for writers" by Elmore Leonard, www.theguardian.com. I can't allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative. “My most important piece of advice to all you would-be writers: When you write, try to leave out all … I'll start with a name, and then for some reason he won't talk much, or he's older than I pictured him just because of a name I give him. I just love to make up characters and gradually build a story around them. If work was a good thing, the rich would have it all and not let you do it. It's the most satisfying thing I do. I'm going to write to make a buck. There are cities that get by on their good looks, offer climate and scenery, views of mountains or oceans, rockbound or with palm trees. Because we can hear it in your writing. When you are developing your style, you avoid weaknesses. I don't think many screenwriters can write. Because I know you spend so much time with the bad guys.' I try to leave out the parts readers skip. I don't believe in writer's block or waiting for inspiration. If you're a writer, you sit down and write. “You thinkin bout the time I shot you and you rose from the dead? When I get an idea for a book, something appeals to me, it's usually a character. And normally it's the one who is the most interesting talker. Elmore Leonard (2009). There has to be a rhythm with it … Interviewers have said, you like jazz, don’t you? If I have several bad guys and I only want to end up with one of them, then I have to decide which one I want in the end. Then all of a sudden it occurred to me - he didn't have a sense of humor. It's fun to sit there and think of characters and get them into action, then be paid for it. Share. Everyone has his own sound. 10 Copy quote At the time I begin writing a novel, the last thing I want to do is follow a plot outline. I feel that if I am entertained, then there will be enough other readers who will be entertained, too. I don't teach or anything. ', “I don’t think writers compete, I think they’re all doing separate things in their own style.”, “The shots left a hard ringing sound within the closeness of the brick walls. Terry held the pistol at arm's length on a level with his eyes--the Russian Tokarev resembling an old-model Colt .45, big and heavy--and made the sign of the cross with it over the dead. Because I know you spend so much time with the bad guys.' Welcome back. Use your own style of putting it down. If I try to write, if I catch myself trying to write, I'll fall right on my face. I like to write books. So then you have to make the good guy fun, in order to compete. Everyone has his own sound. You've got to write every day. The better ones paid two cents a word. I don't want to write any more screenplays, I'll tell you that right now. It took me 20 years to buy an electric typewriter, because I was afraid it would be too sensitive. I don't make it a chore. Maybe if you think of more places he will be more men, but two is enough for now.”, “There were a lot of terms you had to learn, as opposed to the shylock business where all you had to know how to say was 'Give me the fuckin money.”, “I can't allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.”, “I always felt, you don’t have a good time doin crime, you may as well find a job.”, “It's my attempt to remain invisible, not distract the reader from the story with obvious writing.”, “You never know what somebody might tell you,' Chris said, 'when they think you're somebody else.”, “Don't go into great detail describing places and things, unless you're Margaret Atwood and can paint scenes with language. If they can't talk, they're given less to do, or thrown out. Book by Elmore Leonard, 1996. I want the reader to know what's going on. Try not to write the parts that people skip. "Seven deadly sins" by Robert McCrum, www.theguardian.com. A lot of people want a picture, a lot of people just want an autograph. If you take a few days to write an outline, you're just making up scenes that you think will work, that you think will be interesting. It all goes together. The only people I have trouble with are the so-called normal types. But it’s never been the kind of city people visit and fall in love with because of its charm or think, gee, wouldn’t this be a nice place to live.”, “I spent most of my dough on booze, broads and boats and the rest I wasted.”, “Write the book the way it should be written, then give it to somebody to put in the commas and shit.”, “I'm very much aware in the writing of dialogue, or even in the narrative too, of a rhythm. Share. Because we can hear it in your writing. And I thought that was a compliment. That's what you're writing for, to get people to respond to it. You're closer to it, and you have to cross things out. My purpose is to entertain and please myself. There are cities that get by on their good looks, offer climate and scenery, views of mountains or oceans, rockbound or with palm trees. “Labrava: A Novel”, p.16, Harper Collins. Detroit has its natural attractions: lakes all over the place, an abundance of trees and four distinct seasons for those who like variety in their weather, everything but hurricanes and earth-quakes. "Biography/ Personal Quotes". He turned to Carol again and she said: “Do you want me to tell you what I give a shit about at age sixty-five', Cullen said, 'and what I don't give a shit about? There needs to be some kind of incentive in addition to the project. Like I'm still only writing to make money and as soon as I have enough I'll quit and go fishing? I am not good at describing things, so I stay away from it. Writers - all writers, even screenwriters - like to make their mark. He never has anything funny in his stories.”, “And she thought if you don't have the desire to fight or wait for something there's no reason for being on earth.”, “A man can be in two different places and he will be two different men. Elmore Leonard Quotes and Sayings - Page 1. That's all I do. 2005. A friend of mine who is in the publishing business knew I was writing a book, and he said, 'Have you said anything yet about the good guy? Goodreads helps you follow your favorite authors. You don't want descriptions that bring the action, the flow of the story, to a standstill.”, “But when you begin with bullshit the conclusion you reach is still bullshit.”, “There’s something happening here, I know it. If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. I don’t think writers compete, I think they’re all doing separate things in their own style. It's boring. August 20, 2013. It's not always fun, but finally when you make it come out the way you want, it's then you can say, 'It's fun, boy.'. It's a waste of time. I do have fun writing, and a long time ago, I told myself, 'You got to have fun at this, or it'll drive you nuts.'. "Be Cool", www.imdb.com. I did that with Hemingway, and I thought I was writing just like Hemingway. I get several a week, I think. I think any writer is a fool if he doesn't do it for money. I have fun writing. To know too much at the start takes the pleasure out of discovering what the book is about. I can't believe it when writers tell me 'I don't want to show my work to anybody'. It’s right in front of my face, but I just can’t see it.”, “all over the world...the past was being wiped out by condominiums.”, “Avoid Prologues. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. October 1925 Date of death: 20. There are some people who have been reading me for years, and they keep saying kind things about the writing. Until I realized Hemingway doesn't have a sense of humor. All the information you need can be given in dialogue. I spent most of my dough on booze, broads and boats and the rest I wasted. I still read Hemingway. That's the challenge. Because they're fun. I hear a certain type of individual, I decide this is what he should be, whatever it is, and then I hear him. I think any writer is a fool if he doesn't do it for money. I'll see a picture of a female marshal in front of the courthouse in Miami and she's got a shotgun on her hip and it goes up on an angle. He said, "Rest in peace, motherfuckers," turned, and walked out of the beer lady's house to wait at the side of the road.”, “when you're really cute that's all you have to be, you make a career out of it. I get letters. The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. They want pretty much the same thing that you and I want: they want to be happy. I never see my bad guys as simply bad. And there are cities like Detroit that have to work for a living. I really - I don't take my work that seriously, and I think that's what keeps me loose. I'll think of an ending and it will be fine. That's what most of my characters are like.”, “It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to sound like it does.”, “There are cities that get by on their good looks, offer climate and scenery, views of mountains or oceans, rockbound or with palm trees; and there are cities like Detroit that have to work for a living, whose reason for being might be geographical but whose growth is based on industry, jobs. My most important piece of advice to all you would-be writers: when you write, try to leave out all the parts readers skip. Elmore Leonard Best Good Style Voice To me, writing is the most fun. Share. I don't get it at all. Elmore Leonard (2007). I'm very much aware in the writing of dialogue, or even in the narrative too, of a rhythm. My purpose is to entertain and please myself. BrainyQuote has been providing inspirational quotes since 2001 to our worldwide community. That's what you're writing for, to get people to respond to it. I'd say I learned more from John O'Hara, who isn't much read today but whose short stories I really admired, and Hemingway, who I think has lasted pretty good. They want pretty much the same thing that you and I want: they want to be happy. To me, writing is the most fun.