Elmore Leonard's Writing Tips
When it comes to writing, Elmore Leonard is a name that many may not recognize, until they see his line of work. Most successful as a writer of crime fiction and westerns, Leonard's famous works include Get Shorty, Out of Sight, Hombre, and Mr. Majestyk. Some of his stories have been converted into movies, including the successful 3:10 to Yuma, Be Cool, Out of Sight and more. In addition to his success as a writer, Elmore Leonard has been a great source of advice for aspiring writers. Here are some of my favorite pieces of advice from Elmore Leonard.
Don't Use "Suddenly" or "All Hell Broke Loose"
While you might feel like something suddenly happened, it's a waste of space in writing. Suddenly gives the reader no visual understanding of what is being described, it makes something sound magical. Use more thorough descriptions of things and the reader will piece together what happened. Likewise, "All hell broke loose" gives no true visual of what's happening in the story. Don't rely on cheap phrases but instead, provide the visual imagery that will cause the reader to make that conclusion on his or her own.
Don't Waste Reader's Time
Make sure to write so that your reader feels like their time is being well spent. Cut out the filler words that drag the story and clog up your sentences and spare the details that your reader would skip anyway.
Don't Write What People Don't Read
Elmore Leonard said "Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip." This is an important lesson. Think about stories you read. Are there any parts you simply skip over? Identify what causes this and avoid doing it in your own writing.
Just Use Said
As Elmore Leonard has said, avoid using anything besides said to carry dialogue. Most other words will just clutter up the dialogue and it's better to let the words and your physical descriptions of people to carry the dialogue.
Never Start With Weather
It's the classic awkward conversation piece. Talk about the weather because you have nothing else to say. It's also an easy thing to describe. However, when opening a story, nothing ostracizes a reader more than starting with the weather. Talk about something relevant to the story, or something that will lure them into it. Don't tease them with useless information.
These are just a few pieces of advice from Elmore Leonard, and they really make sense. Hopefully his writing tips will help you improve your writing as much as they have helped me.
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