I got this from my beta exchange person.
10 RULES FOR GOOD WRITING* Advice from Elmore Leonard
Elmore Leonard started out writing westerns, then turned his talents to crime fiction. One of the most popular and prolific writers of our time, he’s written about two dozen novels, most of them bestsellers, such as Glitz, Get Shorty, Maximum Bob, and Rum Punch. Unlike most genre writers, however, Leonard is taken seriously by the literary crowd.
What’s Leonard’s secret to being both popular and respectable? Perhaps you’ll find some clues in his 10 tricks for good 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.
I've found that I seriously dislike the overuse of "suddenly", it's gratifying to see a pet-peeve on a list like this. Ironically, my beta-exchange person gets on me about not giving enough description of characters, places, and things. However, she has very valid complaints that the quality of description rather than quantity is often the problem. Nonetheless, it makes me feel better about the sparse descriptions I give on many characters.
I can't read the word "suddenly" without hearing "dun-dun-DUNNNN!!" music in my head. Similarly, "meanwhile" is always followed by "at the Hall of Justice".
Similarly, "meanwhile" is always followed by "at the Hall of Justice".
For me, it's "back at the ranch..."
Although my favorite Leonard quote on writing is when somebody asks a screenwriter in Get Shorty (so awesome. Be Cool=so sad) what kind of writing pays best and he says "Ransom notes."
For me, it's "back at the ranch..."
Exactly.
7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
Years of editing Scottish-set romances proves this brilliantly. One more "I dinna ken" and I would have cried.
and the classic "och, lassie"
I can't read the word "suddenly" without hearing "dun-dun-DUNNNN!!" music in my head.
It bugs me a lot because it seems like so often things that happen "suddenly" or "quickly" are things that just happen. I suppose if the POV character is a sloth, then it's okay, but most of the time it just bugs me.
My annoying habit word is "just". I just keeping slipping it in without thinking about it.
I don't doubt it. In the right hands, I like that sort of thing. I'm interested in the different ways people talk.
Too bad the right hands are not often the hands itching to pick that stuff up.
My annoying habit word is "just". I just keeping slipping it in without thinking about it.
Oh yeah. I use it all the time. And "actually." Also, everything "apparently" happens with me.
7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
Years of editing Scottish-set romances proves this brilliantly. One more "I dinna ken" and I would have cried.
Ha-ha! I had a beta reader who complained, "but what happened to her accent? Where'd it go?"
It went to the rubbish bin, where excess patois belongs. One or two phrases to get the feel in the reader's head and they'll start doing the translating themselves. No one has to describe a redhead as being a redhead in every single paragraph, once you know, you know.
