The Great Elmore Leonard’s Rules of Writing

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When I picked up the used hardcover of Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing I would have guessed it was around 130 pages by its width. The deception came from the heavy cardstock used instead of standard paper. Many of the pages were blank or carried sketches from Joe Ciardiello. Leonard’s wisdom, like a book of ancient philosophy, was contained in capsules of brief paragraphs. If printed on normal paper and with normal text, it would be little more than a pamphlet.

Any writing advice from Elmore Leonard though, terse or verbose, is worth the money, so I carried it to the counter.

For those unfamiliar with the legendary writer’s name, you might be familiar with his work. If you aren’t, find your library card and get busy.

Elmore Leonard books include…

1. The Moonshine War (1969)
2. Swag (1976)
3. Freaky Deaky (1988)
4. Cat Chaser (1982)
5. LaBrava (1983)

Dozens of his stories became movies or television shows. Justified, Get Shorty, 3:10 to Yuma, and Jackie Brown are just a few.

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. If you have a…