Elmore Leonard's Rules for Writing

If you loved Get Shorty, have watched 3:10 to Yuma a hundred times, read the Jack Foley books until the covers fell off, or watch Justified religiously, you can thank beloved writer Elmore Leonard. Although Leonard passed away on August 20th, his characters and their stories will live on and continue to captivate audiences both on the page and on the screen. And, his rules for writing will continue to motivate and inspire writers everywhere.

Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules for Good Writing:

1. Never open a book with weather.
2. Avoid prologues.
3. Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.
4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said.”
5. Keep your exclamation points under control.
6. Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.”
7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
9. Don’t go into great detail about places and things.
10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

To this list, I’d like to add a rule of my own:
11. Break these rules.

Elmore Leonard’s rules worked for his creative process, but are not absolute.

As a budding writer, you are bound to read many lists like these that propagate the idea that writing is a discipline governed by laws and that any story can be run through a formula that will magically make it “good” writing by a universal standard (which, by the way, does not exist). Elmore Leonard was undeniably a successful writer – his books and screenplays entertained a wide audience and paid his bills. Before you tape his rules for writing to your monitor, however, there are a few things you should consider. First, adhering to these rules contributed to the development of Leonard’s unique voice as a writer. Second, this voice worked well for his genres – westerns and thrillers – but may not have been as effective if he had been writing fantasy or romance. Third, Leonard himself offers this disclaimer:

“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 facility for language and imagery and the sound of your voice pleases you, invisibility is not what you are after, and you can skip the rules. Still, you might look them over.” He also cites Barry Lopez and John Steinbeck as exceptions to some of these rules.

In summary, let this list help you, but don’t let it scare you. To quote one of my all-time favorite movies: “They’re really more like guidelines, anyway.” So grab a pencil, your favorite Elmore Leonard novel, pop Be Cool in the DVD player, and let yourself be inspired by a legendary author who will be sorely missed.