Elmore Leonard Talks His Rules for Writing Fiction

Elmore Leonard Talks His Rules for Writing Fiction

Elmore Leonard passed away today at the age of 87. I’ve never actually read any of his work, but I have seen some of the films from which his stories were adapted. This article talks about his rules for writing fiction. I admit I don’t follow all these writers’ articles that talk about their rules, and if I ever write my own, The last one would be ‘never follow rules’.

However, I always read these things because they do lend you some perspective on when to exercise restraint, and when to try some of the things the writers talk about in their rules. Humor yourself. Read them. I don’t like all of them, but, I read them anyway. Everything is a lesson.