“These are the 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.”\u2014Elmore Leonard<\/p>\n
For aspiring writers and lovers of the written word, this concise guide breaks down the writing process with simplicity and clarity. From adjectives and exclamation points to dialect and hoopetedoodle, Elmore Leonard explains what to avoid, what to aspire to, and what to do when it sounds like “writing” (rewrite).<\/p>\n
Beautifully designed, filled with free-flowing, elegant illustrations and specially priced, Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing is the perfect writer’s\u2014and reader’s\u2014gift. <\/p>\n
These rules, transcribed off a cocktail napkin, were shared with the audience of Bouchercon 2000 at the presentation of the Anthony Awards for mystery authors. The transcriber takes great liberty with Mr. Leonard’s speech due to the lateness of hour, darkness of the banquet room, the excitement sizzling in the air, and the consumption of numerous cocktails.<\/p>\n
Don’t write what the reader will skip over anyhow.
\nNever open your book with weather.
\nNever begin with a prologue
\nNever describe the physical look of a character in such great detail it takes away from the reader’s imagination.
\nUse exclamation points sparingly.
\nNever use another verb in place of said.
\nNever let your writing sound like writing.
\nNever use an adverb to modify said.
\nNever us a colon or semi colon in dialogue. The same is true of ellipsis, dash and italics.
\nTell your editor to tell the copy editor not to mess with your punctuation.
\nDon’t show your manuscript to anyone outside the business until you are satisfied with it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“These are the 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.”\u2014Elmore Leonard For aspiring writers and lovers of the written word, this concise guide breaks down the writing process with simplicity and clarity. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[106],"product_tag":[],"class_list":["post-9383","product","type-product","status-publish","product_cat-essays-belle-lettres","first","outofstock","taxable","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebookbeat.com\/bookshop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/9383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebookbeat.com\/bookshop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebookbeat.com\/bookshop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebookbeat.com\/bookshop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebookbeat.com\/bookshop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=9383"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebookbeat.com\/bookshop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=9383"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebookbeat.com\/bookshop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=9383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}