Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing [Annotated]

Things I was told in journalism class:
• Never, ever use the exclamation mark in a newspaper story
• Always use said
• Write like you are painting a picture
• Set the scene but don't go crazy
• Keep a copy of Elements of Style on your desk and follow it as closely as possible

 

The best Elmore Leonard stuff is from the mid-1970s to the first half of the 1980s. City Primeval is the best. I supposed as time went on, there did have the tinge of a formula to it but I still think it is great.

 

I have a question about No. 9. I'm working on a story about a man who left his hometown for a place that was completely different, the landscape, the lifestyle, everything. He told me he felt the area pulling at him until he couldn't resist it anymore.
Isn't this a time to break Mr. Leonard's Rule No. 9? I think it would be a better story if I show the reader what the area is like, which ideally, would help explain why he up and left the place he had been living. I'm not planning to use more than a paragraph or two to describe it. (By the way, the story I'm writing is for readers in his hometown, so they might not be familiar with the place the guy moved to.)

I'm just curious if the rest of you think it's a good example of when to break the rule.

 

It is very important to know the rules. After time, it becomes even more important to know the exceptions.

 

Two separate people this week recommended that I read Elmore Leonard. Rather than start a new thread, I did a search and came upon this one. For those of you who are fans or have read a lot of his books, where would you start? His collection is so big, I'm almost intimidated. If any of you have a list of two or three you might start with, that would be great. Thanks.

 

I'm certainly no expert, but I have read a few of his newer ones. I'd recommend him too, but I'm not sure where to tell you to start. I've read Rum Punch, Cuba Libre and Out of Sight among others and enjoyed them all. Might want to look at some of his older stuff, such as Mr. Majestyk and Fifty-Two Pickup. I have a lot of his books, but haven't read as many as I'd like.

Maybe this will help:
http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/02/08/home/leonard.html

 

Cat Chaser, Rum Punch, Killshot. That's a good start. His old Western novels are good too.

 

With Elmore Leonard, you can close your eyes and pick a title and they're all good.

 

My favorites were probably "Glitz" and "Freaky Deaky." Great novels.

 

War, what is it good for?

 

My fourth grade teacher always told us never to use anything but said. The fifth grade teacher always said to use different terms, but that darn fourth grade teacher, she must have been a journalism major or something. Always marked us down when we used something other than said in papers or stories.

 

One of the first names that comes to mind as i'm scrolling down. Heinz is one of the writers that really stripped down his own language, dialogue is the words that were said... not descriptions, not images, not feelings... the words.

You infer the rest, from what was said.