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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.

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.
Comes
Shot
Stories
Judge
Book
Shots
Writing
Telling
Judging
Books
Protagonist
Winning
Antagonist
Story
Protagonists

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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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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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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Skip the boring parts.
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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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My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.
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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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Try not to write the parts that people skip.
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Never use the words 'suddenly' or 'all hell broke loose.'
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I don't believe in writer's block. I don't know what that is. There are just certain little areas that I know I'm going to get through. It's just a matter of finding a way.
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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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I have fun writing. I don't make it a chore. I don't have to struggle with it.
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What do you tell a man with two black eyes? Nothing, he's already been told twice.
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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.
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Everyone has his own sound. I'm not going to presume how to tell anybody how to write.
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If you take a few days to write an outline, you're just making up scenes that you think will work, that you think will be interesting. But as you write it, other ideas occur - better ideas that have to do with what you're writing.
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I still read Hemingway. I still read his short stories because they're so good. He doesn't waste any words.
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I try to leave out the parts readers skip.
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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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