Elmore Leonard





Elmore Leonard

Author profile


born
in New Orleans, Louisiana, The United States
October 11, 1925

gender
male

website

genre


About this author

Elmore John Leonard lived in Dallas, Oklahoma City and Memphis before settling in Detroit in 1935. After serving in the navy, he studied English literature at the University of Detroit where he entered a short story competition. His earliest published novels in the 1950s were westerns, but Leonard went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures.

Leonard now lives with his family in Oakland County, Michigan.

Father of Peter Leonard.


Elmore Leonard isn't a Goodreads Author (yet), but he does have a blog, so here are some recent posts imported from his feed.
Average rating: 3.66 · 73,537 ratings · 5,096 reviews · 103 distinct works · Similar authors
Get Shorty (Chili Palmer, #1)
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Interviews

May 2009, Elmore Leonard
"I don't have a computer. I order about 50 unlined yellow pads at a time from a print shop. I like them, because you don't have to be orderly about the writing without the lines. Some of my longhand is barely decipherable, because I'm just writing fast as I think about it, as the characters talk back and forth. " ...More

more interviews »

“Elmore Leonard's Ten Rules of 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.”
Elmore Leonard

“I try to leave out the parts that people skip.”
Elmore Leonard

“Psychopaths... people who know the differences between right and wrong, but don't give a shit. That's what most of my characters are like.”
Elmore Leonard

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics posts views last activity  
The Next Best Boo...: Bridget Book Challenge 34 251 Aug 20, 2009 05:24pm  
75 Books: Bookreadera's 75 in 2009 32 175 Oct 11, 2009 01:20pm  
M/T Reading Friends: Barry's incredbily typical list for October 8 37 Nov 04, 2009 01:43pm  
M/T Reading Friends: dec 2009 - sandi 3 21 Dec 31, 2009 10:53pm  
Readers and Reading: December reads 41 77 Jan 09, 2010 09:28am  
Book Buying Addic...: Titles A-Z Game 691 422 Apr 21, 2010 07:20pm  
Constant Reader: Summer Mystery Suggestions 136 253 May 14, 2010 12:48pm  
Between the Lines: Crime Fiction 14 70 Aug 22, 2010 10:42am  
M/T Reading Friends: august 2010 - sandi 11 39 Sep 08, 2010 06:16am  


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