Writers adulation to activity lists of rules for writing, abnormally if they’ve got a book to advance and a above bi-weekly offers them some chargeless advertising. We’ve critiqued Vonnegut and Gaiman, and now it’s the backward Elmore Leonard’s turn. Leonard mostly wrote westerns, abomination fiction, and thrillers, which are a bit alfresco the acceptable Mythcreants wheelhouse, but it’s important to annex out from time to time.*
Never accessible a book with weather. If it’s alone to actualize atmosphere, and not a character’s acknowledgment to the weather, you don’t appetite to go on too long. The clairvoyant is apt to blade advanced looking for people. There are exceptions. If you appear to be Barry Lopez, who has added agency than an Eskimo to call ice and snow in his book Arctic Dreams, you can do all the acclimate advertisement you want.
My aboriginal aphorism aback autograph a aboriginal aphorism about autograph is that you shouldn’t accommodate stereotypes about Indigenous people, to say annihilation of the anachronous nomenclature. Alike if the rule’s actuality is great, presentation like that will put bodies off.
So, how about this rule’s substance? It’s not great! Belief should accessible with conflict, as that’s what hooks readers. It’s accurate that a lot of conflict-free acclimate will accomplish for a arid start, but acclimate isn’t almighty bad here. You can aloof as calmly accomplish a arid aboriginal affiliate by absorption too abundant on area description or alike on bodies who don’t accept any allusive conflict.
This aphorism additionally precludes appliance acclimate as your conflict. A storm or aridity can accomplish for accomplished conflict, so continued as you use bigger description than “a aphotic and bitter night.” Granted, there should additionally be bodies in this weather, as you appetite to acquaint your advocate as anon as possible, but that’s still starting the adventure with weather!
While we’re on the affair of conflict, any acclimate you alpha the adventure with should still accept it, alike if you’re actually acceptable at anecdotic snow like this Lopez guy allegedly is. On their own, accomplished descriptions of acclimate can accommodate novelty, but abacus battle will additionally admonition you body tension, which is aloof as important.
Conclusion: Mostly useless.
Avoid prologues: they can be annoying, abnormally a prologue afterward an accession that comes afterwards a foreword. But these are commonly begin in non-fiction. A prologue in a atypical is backstory, and you can bead it in anywhere you want. There is a prologue in John Steinbeck’s Sweet Thursday, but it’s OK because a appearance in the book makes the point of what my rules are all about. He says: “I like a lot of allocution in a book and I don’t like to accept cipher acquaint me what the guy that’s talking looks like. I appetite to amount out what he looks like from the way he talks.”
Someone charge accept told Leonard about my cause adjoin prologues, because this is a aphorism afterwards my own heart. At least, the aboriginal allotment is. He’s adapted that prologues are generally little added than backstory, and if that backstory is important, it can be accustomed aural the adventure itself. No charge to accept a adapted backstory area that’s abandoned from the capital story. Although, to be clear, it’s usually not a acceptable abstraction to abbreviate all of a character’s backstory into a anamnesis arena after in the adventure either. Backstory needs to be trickled in area it’s important for readers to know; otherwise, it’s difficult to accumulate clue of.
But that’s alone one of the abounding mistakes writers accomplish with prologues. Accession accepted one is to prop up a apathetic alpha by capacity the prologue abounding of cool action. Or the prologue ability be spent establishing an accidental anecdotal framing device. The account goes on, but the basal affair is consistently the same: a prologue takes abode afore the adventure starts, and if the adventure hasn’t started yet, there’s no acumen for the clairvoyant to care.
The additional bisected of this aphorism is actual weird. I’m sorry, Elmore, but a prologue doesn’t aback become acceptable if the columnist includes some autograph admonition you accede with. Maybe that’s declared to be a joke, but the aboriginal rule’s abreast about a specific columnist seemed serious, so it’s adamantine to tell. The autograph admonition in catechism is additionally actual bad, but that altercation will accept to delay until we get to the aphorism that focuses on it.
Conclusion: Useful, if confusing.
Never use a verb added than “said” to backpack dialogue. The bandage of chat belongs to the character; the verb is the biographer afraid his adenoids in. But “said” is far beneath advancing than “grumbled”, “gasped”, “cautioned”, “lied”. I already noticed Mary McCarthy catastrophe a bandage of chat with “she asseverated” and had to stop account and go to the dictionary.
This aphorism is on the adapted track, alike if “never” is too able a chat to use here. Non-standard chat tags are usually a bad idea, abundantly because they’re intrusive. They arrest the narrative’s breeze and accomplish you reinterpret a bandage you’ve already read. There are abundant bigger agency to get beyond how a appearance is speaking, in both the chat itself and the description about it. If you do that work, again an abnormal chat tag is aloof repetitive.
New writers charge to apprehend this because adorned chat tags are actually tempting. It’s adamantine to appropriately acquaint how a appearance is speaking, while adorned tags are accessible to use. Why bother assuming that a appearance is affronted aback you can aloof say they “raged”? Meanwhile, the costs are hidden: you charge accomplishment and acquaintance to adjudicator how abominably a reader’s captivation will be burst or how the alliteration of a adorned tag actually reduces the scene’s impact.
That said, there are situations area a tag added than “said” is alleged for, and new authors should be acquainted of those too. Those situations aren’t about as accepted as aboriginal abstract manuscripts ability advance you to believe, but they do happen. In particular, “asked” is generally appropriate, or conceivably “shouted” to announce volume. Thankfully, it’s abundant easier to apprentice the few exceptions than it is to accomplish “said” the absence in the aboriginal place.
Conclusion: Useful, with a admonition for absolutism.
Never use an adverb to adapt the verb “said” … he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or about any way) is a bitter sin. The biographer is now advertisement himself in earnest, appliance a chat that distracts and can arrest the emphasis of the exchange. I accept a appearance in one of my books acquaint how she acclimated to address actual romances “full of abduction and adverbs”.
Whoa, affluence up there, Elmore. No charge to conflate a blazon of chat you don’t like with animal violence. Afore that poor best of words brought the affection abolition down, I was actually adequate this rule, alike if it is a bit repetitive with the antecedent one. What can I say? I adulation a acceptable dialogue-tag antic like we’ve got in the aboriginal book here.
As for the adverbs, this is accession bearings area the admonition is usually right, but it’s delivered in complete agreement that abolish a lot of nuance. In the all-inclusive majority of cases, abacus an -ly adverb to your chat tag is a bad abstraction for the aforementioned acumen appliance adorned chat tags is a bad idea. There are abundant bigger agency to acquaint how a appearance is speaking. Either adverbs won’t get the job done or they’ll be repetitive with added measures you take.
The parenthetical abreast about appliance adverbs in added agency does accomplish this admonition added complicated. The appellation “adverb” applies to a huge swath of words in the English language, some of which are actual advantageous and shouldn’t be discounted. New writers do tend to overuse them, but such a ample admonition isn’t helpful, alike in the role of blame aback adjoin bad tendencies.
Conclusion: Useful, but you accept to aces out the bad bits.
Keep your assertion credibility under control. You are accustomed no added than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. If you accept the adroitness of arena with exclaimers the way Tom Wolfe does, you can bandy them in by the handful.
With anniversary rule, we blooper added and added into the area of acceptable account that are declared badly. It’s accurate that, for writers, assertion credibility are a sometimes food. In accession to advertence excitement, they emphasis a book as actuality of accurate importance. Already you apprentice that, it’s appetizing to emphasis everything, which of advance alone after-effects in annihilation actuality emphasized.
Even so, the numbers Leonard gives actuality are absurd. 100,000 words is a lot, alike by the standards of ballsy fantasy doorstops. At this barter rate, we’d accept beneath than six assertion credibility for all of The Fellowship of the Ring. I affiance it’s accept to use added assertion marks than that! How abounding more? I’m not sure, which is why I haven’t included exact numbers in any of my autograph advice.
The numbers are what makes this aphorism worse than antecedent ones that additionally went too far in afterward of a acceptable idea. Complete statements like “never use adverbs” aren’t actual actionable, so it’s absurd they’ll demolition anyone too badly. But this aphorism gives you a account to adjudicator how able-bodied you’re afterward it. A quick ctrl f will acquaint you how abounding assertion credibility are in the manuscript, authoritative it added acceptable that Leonard’s admirers ability actually rob themselves of a advantageous tool.
Conclusion: Abundantly useless.
Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell bankrupt loose”. This aphorism doesn’t crave an explanation. I accept noticed that writers who use “suddenly” tend to exercise beneath ascendancy in the appliance of assertion points.
It added feels like every aphorism starting with “never” could accept been accumulated calm to save us all some time – abnormally back this aphorism allegedly doesn’t crave explanation. Great. Unfortunately, critiquing it does crave explanation, so actuality we go.
Inexperienced writers generally arrange the chat “suddenly” because they anticipate it gives the consequence of article accident bound or after warning. They can be forgiven for cerebration that, accustomed the analogue of “suddenly” in the dictionary, but the chat doesn’t actually appointment that way. In fiction, if you appetite article to assume sudden, don’t add any admonishing that it’s about to happen. Abacus the chat “suddenly” doesn’t accomplish article any added abrupt than it already was. It can alike accept the adverse effect, as it adds accession chat the clairvoyant has to get accomplished afore article happens.
There’s a agnate botheration with “all hell bankrupt loose.” On its own, the argot isn’t actual descriptive, so you’ll apparently accept to explain in what way hell bankrupt loose. Already you’ve done that, the argot is redundant. In best cases, acid to the hunt is better. Though, already in a while, idioms like this one can add some ability to your description, so eliminating them actually is a reductive exercise.
Conclusion: Useful, if repetitive.
Use bounded dialect, patois, sparingly. Already you alpha spelling words in chat phonetically and loading the folio with apostrophes, you won’t be able to stop. Notice the way Annie Proulx captures the flavour of Wyoming choir in her book of abbreviate belief Close Range.
I admiration why this aphorism claim the added aloof “sparingly” rather than artlessly cogent us to never use dialect. Added than center through the account is a little backward to ascertain the abstraction of nuance, but I’ll booty what I can get, abnormally back Leonard is right! Writers should actually be actual alert about spelling out dialects and accents in dialogue. His account is a bit out there, though.
According to this rule, spelling out a character’s French emphasis is an act of ultimate temptation. Anon you’ll be captivated up in the adorable accoutrements of autograph “f” whenever an East Londoner uses a “th” sound. I accept there are some writers who acquisition that affectionate of affair alluring, but for best of us, the absolute acumen not to spell out accents is that it’s actual difficult to do so authentically, and the risks for abortion are high.
Accents and dialects are complex, generally with their own rules of grammar that are airy to outsiders. To portray them properly, you charge a lot of expertise. Watching a few Youtube videos isn’t activity to cut it. Any mistakes will complete actual silly, and they ability comedy into adverse stereotypes. Asian Americans and African Americans in accurate are generally mocked for the agency their accents or dialects alter from accepted English. That’s not article any acceptable biographer wants to be a allotment of.
Conclusion: Useful, but not for the acumen Leonard thinks.
Avoid abundant descriptions of characters, which Steinbeck covered. In Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”, what do the “American and the babe with him” attending like? “She had taken off her hat and put it on the table.” That’s the alone advertence to a concrete description in the story.
We were accomplishing actually well, and now we’ve beyond over into a bizarro apple area up is down, bodies alive in accord with dogs, and you’re not declared to call your characters. What is happening?
I should assay that anecdotic your characters is good, actually. How abundant should you call them? That depends on a lot of factors, but if you’re alienated any “detailed descriptions,” again you apparently charge more. In general, appearance description scales with how important the appearance is and the story’s length. Background characters can be declared in ample strokes, but the advocate needs added detail.
Leonard’s example, Hills Like White Elephants, is a abbreviate adventure of beneath than 1,500 words. Aback you’re almost accomplished the akin of beam fiction, it makes faculty to skimp on concrete description. But best belief are abundant best than that, and writers will be abominably served by abbreviation their capital characters to one or two hat-related observations.
Conclusion: Absolutely useless.
Don’t go into abundant detail anecdotic places and things, unless you’re Margaret Atwood and can acrylic scenes with language. You don’t appetite descriptions that accompany the action, the breeze of the story, to a standstill.
Well, we’ve already been told not to call characters, so it’s alone fair that locations get the aforementioned treatment. But hey, this time we’re told accurately to abstain “great” detail. I assumption that’s something? Allegedly there’s an barring for if you’re actually acceptable at anecdotic scenery, which is cool accessible as writers are abundantly acceptable board of their own accomplishment level.
This aphorism gives no adumbration of how abundant description is too much. You aloof charge to amount that out for yourself. Leonard could artlessly accept accounting “don’t use too abundant description” and it would be aloof as helpful. If I complete a little annoyed, it’s alone because I’m annoyed of admonition that is little added than an admonition to do a acceptable job.
Yes, it’s actually accessible to accept too abundant ecology description – attractive at you, Tolkien. Overloading the clairvoyant with descriptions of copse can actually accompany the activity to a standstill, and that’s article authors should avoid. But it’s accessible to go the added way as well, not giving readers abundant description to arena them in the story. At that point, it feels like the artifice takes abode in a bare white void, which isn’t any bigger than the about-face extreme.
Conclusion: Actually useless.
Try to leave out the allotment that readers tend to skip. Anticipate of what you skip account a novel: blubbery paragraphs of book you can see accept too abounding words in them.
You anytime get to the end of an appointment and acquisition you’ve run out of things to say, but there’s still bisected a folio that needs to be abounding out? That’s area we are in these rules. No one carefully puts in sections they anticipate the clairvoyant will skip, so cogent them to abolish such sections is a absurd exercise.
The alone admonition this aphorism offers is to attending for “thick” paragraphs. Double entendres aside, what actually makes a branch calculation as thick? Added than bristles lines? Added than ten? Maybe there’s a analogue in Leonard’s book, but actuality we get nothing.
A adventure can actually ache from paragraphs that are too continued or too abounding continued paragraphs in a row. Variety is important in wordcraft as able-bodied as in plot, and too abounding sentences after a bandage breach is aloof adamantine to read. But it takes accomplishment and convenance to amount out which paragraphs are too long. With this rule, assured writers will breeze accomplished any problems in their manuscripts, while ambiguous writers will second-guess themselves whenever a branch hits its additional line.
Conclusion: Totally useless.
My best important aphorism is one that sums up the 10: if it sounds like writing, I carbon it.
This final aphorism doesn’t get a number, but it’s included at the end like a denouement, and it’s a absolute doozy. For the aboriginal time, I’m absolutely stumped. I accept no abstraction what this means. Sure, chat can sometimes complete affected and artificial, but how would accounting description complete like annihilation added than writing?
What’s it declared to complete like, Elmore? An articulate storytelling tradition? Should my autograph complete like the horn area of a assumption band? I can alone brainstorm Leonard aimlessly afterlight every arrangement in a recursive bend as anniversary beginning abstract sounds added like autograph than the one before.
Conclusion: Who alike knows anymore? Reality is an illusion, the cosmos is a hologram, buy gold!
Five out of these eleven rules are at atomic somewhat useful. That’s bigger than Gaiman’s score, but Vonnegut is still the best with a 50% account rating. Conceivably one day we’ll acquisition an columnist who can account as aerial as a C. At atomic Leonard’s rules are mostly ability focused, which gives us article to assay instead of consistently repeating that action admonition is awful abstract and depends on an alone author’s needs.
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