Quote

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.

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.
Lasts
Discovering
Last
Plot
Book
Begin
Writing
Follow
Thing
Novel
Much
Takes
Time
Pleasure
Outline
Start
Outlines

More quotes by Elmore Leonard

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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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If work was a good thing, the rich would have it all and not let you do it.
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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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It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to sound like it does.
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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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Not dreams but night changes, not destiny but path changes, always keep your hopes alive, luck may or may not change, but time definitely chages.
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I don't want the reader to be aware of me as the writer.
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Don't worry about what your mother thinks of your language.
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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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My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.
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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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Try not to write the parts that people skip.
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Never use an adverb to modify the verb 'said' . . . he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange.
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Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.
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If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.
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Bad guys are not bad guys twenty-four hours a day.
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Skip the boring parts.
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I once saw Dizzy Gillespie at a live show, and it made me want to go home immediately and start writing.
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My most important piece of advice to all you would-be writers: when you write, try to leave out all the parts readers skip.
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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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