"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."
That's from this page where Elmore Leonard tells you about good writing. The problem is that Elmore Leonard, while often brilliant, is also seriously inconsistent. He also has a strong tendency to rehash and recycle. Mr Paradise draws heavily from Out of Sight, for instance. This recycling is opposite of remaining "invisible". It's as if he has to remind you that he wrote that too, and that, and that...
"Never open a book with weather. If it’s only to create atmosphere, and not a character’s reaction to the weather, you don’t want to go on too long. The reader is apt to leaf ahead looking for people."
What kind of airhead/asshole reader does this? I've never leafed ahead in a book. I've walked away from some (meaning at the time to come back), but never leafed ahead. What would be the point? If youcare about the story and the characters enough to want to know what happens to them, why not just keeping plodding?
"Never use a verb other than 'said' to carry dialogue."
Yelled? Screamed? Yes, that can be part of dialogue too IMO.
"Keep your exclamation points under control."
True!
Elmore Leonard Filmography:
- Blown Away (2003) TV Episode (story)
... aka Elmore Leonard's Gold Coast
... aka Peacemaker
... aka High Noon, Part II (USA: video title)
... aka The Return of Will Kane (USA: video title)
... aka Joe Kidd (USA)
