more writing stuff

[jaebility]

Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Good Fiction 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" ...he admonished gravely.
5. Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.
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 describing places and things.
10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

My most important rule is one that sums up the 10.

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

Comments

[sparkay]

I think I need to mem this. :D

[verdictlesslife.livejournal.com]

Elmore Leonard is a god of writing.

Glad you found it helpful!

[baggyeyes]

4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said" ...he admonished gravely.

I love this. I think Stephen King has the same thing in his book - you should try to pick it up at the library. On Writing. Excellent book.

[verdictlesslife.livejournal.com]

Elmore Leonard = <3

I read it years ago and I remember it being damn good and helpful! I need to definitely pick it up again.

[jeidar.livejournal.com]

Damn good advice. I need to keep my suddenly's under control. I realize they're horrible as I'm writing them, I just can't seem to stop myself at times XD

[verdictlesslife.livejournal.com]

I'm all right with suddenly, but I abuse the hell out of actually.

[ametrinember.livejournal.com]

1. "It was a dark and stormy night"!!! XD No, I totally agree with this. If the weather is not relevant, skip.
2. Disagree. I love most prologues, and they can be really intriguing if done well.
3. 0.o....I guess you'll want to be careful of your use of "said", but a few "shouted", "replied", and "groaned" won't hurt anybody now and again.
4. OK, "he admonished gravely" is a good example of what NOT to do, but again, I think if the author is careful, rule #4 can be overlooked.
5. Completely agree.
6. I like my "suddenly"s but admittedly, "all hell broke loose" is a cliche and unless hell is relevant to the events, I agree that it should be avoided.
7. True if you want to avoid run-of-the-mill, stereotyped characters. Not so much if they illustrate the character's personality (Think Hagrid from Harry Potter. His speech wasn't always friendly to those unfamiliar with the accent, but hell if I'd want it stricken from his dialogue.)
8. True. Description (or exposition) dumps are EXTREMELY tricky and if not handled right, really bring down the writing. Plus, there are usually so many other places to weave in character description besides one single scene or paragraph; it'd be a shame not to use them.
9. True, for the purposes above plus, hey, we readers enjoy what we cook up in our imaginations.
10. You're right. Most important rule. I'm trying to do this more and more in my own writing as well.

[verdictlesslife.livejournal.com]

Leonard has some good advice, but yeah, it should be taken with a grain of salt.

Anyway, hopefully this list has inspired you to write more!