Quote

I never see my bad guys as simply bad. They want pretty much the same thing that you and I want: they want to be happy.

Elmore Leonard

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Elmore Leonard
Age: 87 †
Born: 1925
Born: October 11
Died: 2013
Died: August 20
Author
Film Producer
Novelist
Prosaist
Screenwriter
Writer
New Orleans
Louisiana
Dutch Leonard
Elmore John Leonard Jr.
Much
Never
Guys
Simply
Pretty
Guy
Happy
Thing

More quotes by Elmore Leonard

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I do have fun writing, and a long time ago, I told myself, 'You got to have fun at this, or it'll drive you nuts.'
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At the time I begin writing a novel, the last thing I want to do is follow a plot outline. To know too much at the start takes the pleasure out of discovering what the book is about.
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I want the reader to know what's going on. So there's never a mystery in my books.
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If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.
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To me, a book is a book, an electronic device is not, and love of books was the reason I started writing.
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I left advertising as fast as I could in 1961. And I haven't ever thought about going back.
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I try to leave out the parts readers skip.
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I don't want the reader to be aware of me as the writer.
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My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.
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I don't judge in my books. I don't have to have the antagonist get shot or the protagonist win. It's just how it comes out. I'm just telling a story.
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All the information you need can be given in dialogue.
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I focus on characters as individuals with attitudes and write each scene from a particular character's point of view. That way, even narrative passages take on the character's sound. I don't want the reader to be aware of me, writing.
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Skip the boring parts.
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Don't go into great detail describing places and things, unless you're ­Margaret Atwood and can paint scenes with language. You don't want descriptions that bring the action, the flow of the story, to a standstill.
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I have fun writing. I don't make it a chore. I don't have to struggle with it.
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There's nothing like work to take your mind off your worries.
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My purpose is to entertain and please myself. I feel that if I am entertained, then there will be enough other readers who will be entertained, too.
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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.
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I don’t think writers compete, I think they’re all doing separate things in their own style.
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Don't worry about what your mother thinks of your language.
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