Elmore Leonard Quotes

Try not to write the parts that people skip.

All the information you need can be given in dialogue.

Never open a book with weather. There are exceptions. If you happen to be Barry Lopez, who has more ways to describe ice and snow than an Eskimo, you can do all the weather reporting you want.

I'm very much aware in the writing of dialogue, or even in the narrative too, of a rhythm. There has to be a rhythm with it … Interviewers have said, you like jazz, don’t you? Because we can hear it in your writing. And I thought that was a compliment.

Not dreams but night changes, not destiny but path changes, always keep your hopes alive, luck may or may not change, but time definitely chages.

I started out of course with Hemingway when I learned how to write. Until I realized Hemingway doesn't have a sense of humor. He never has anything funny in his stories.

To me, writing is the most fun. 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.'

I still read Hemingway. I still read his short stories because they're so good. He doesn't waste any words.

There's nothing like work to take your mind off your worries.

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

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? Because I know you spend so much time with the bad guys.' Because they're fun. So then you have to make the good guy fun, in order to compete. That's the challenge.

My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

Using adverbs is a mortal sin.

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.'

My characters have to talk, or they're out. They audition in early scenes. If they can't talk, they're given less to do, or thrown out.

To me, a book is a book, an electronic device is not, and love of books was the reason I started writing.

I got halfway through 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.' I don't get it at all. What's the big thrill? It's boring.

I spent most of my dough on booze, broads and boats and the rest I wasted.

I want the reader to know what's going on. So there's never a mystery in my books.

The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in.

I'm not going to write for posterity. I'm going to write to make a buck.

I don’t think writers compete, I think they’re all doing separate things in their own style.

I don't want the reader to be aware of me as the writer.

Bad guys are not bad guys twenty-four hours a day.

A pen connects you to the paper. It definitely matters.

I don't believe in writer's block. I don't know what that is. There are just certain little areas that I know I'm going to get through. It's just a matter of finding a way.

Never use a verb other than ‘said’ to carry dialogue.

What do you tell a man with two black eyes? Nothing, he's already been told twice.

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

I try to leave out the parts readers skip.

It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to sound like it does.

If work was a good thing, the rich would have it all and not let you do it.

I focus on characters as individuals with attitudes and write each scene from a particular character's point of view. That way, even narrative passages take on the character's sound. I don't want the reader to be aware of me, writing.

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. But as you write it, other ideas occur - better ideas that have to do with what you're writing.

Never use an adverb to modify the verb 'said' . . . he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange.

I don't judge in my books. I don't have to have the antagonist get shot or the protagonist win. It's just how it comes out. I'm just telling a story.

I won't read a book that starts with a description of the weather. I don't read books over 300 pages, though I'll make an exception for Don Delillo.

Really, when I write a book I'm the only one I have to please. That's the beauty of writing a book instead of a screenplay.

Never use the words 'suddenly' or 'all hell broke loose.'

These are rules I've picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when I'm writing a book, to help me show rather than tell what's taking place in the story.

I've quit writing screenplay [adaptations]. It's too much work. I don't look at writing a novel as work, because I only have to please myself. I have a good time sitting here by myself, thinking up situations and characters, getting them to talk - it's so satisfying. But screenwriting's different. You might think you're writing for yourself, but there are too many other people to please.

After 58 years you'd think writing would get easier. It doesn't. If you're lucky, you become harder to please. That's all right, it's still a pleasure.

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can't allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.

At the time I begin writing a novel, the last thing I want to do is follow a plot outline. To know too much at the start takes the pleasure out of discovering what the book is about.

Avoid prologues: they can be ­annoying, especially a prologue ­following an introduction that comes after a foreword.

I left advertising as fast as I could in 1961. And I haven't ever thought about going back.

I don't believe in writer's block or waiting for inspiration. If you're a writer, you sit down and write.

My most important piece of advice to all you would-be writers: when you write, try to leave out all the parts readers skip.