Elmore Leonard’s Rules for Writing

How to write a crime novel, episode 11

Elmore Leonard was a great crime novelist. He left us books like “Get Shorty” and “Be Cool”. He also left us ten rules for writing. He said the rules kept him, the writer, “invisible,” so that the reader could focus on the story. These are Elmore Leonard’s rules for writing.

Elmore Leonard’s rules for writing

Here are the most important of Elmore’s rules:

• Never start a book with the weather, and avoid prologues. Meaning, get right into the action
• Never use a verb other than said to carry dialogue. No “he explained,” “she cried”
• Never use an adverb to modify the verb said. A lot of authors think this mean Elmore said “never use an adverb.” He certainly didn’t
• Leave out the parts readers tend to skip
• If it looks like writing, rewrite it

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