Writing Quotes by Elmore Leonard

These are rules I've picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when I'm writing a book, to help me…

— Elmore Leonard

The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in.

— Elmore Leonard

I have fun writing. I don't make it a chore. I don't have to struggle with it.

— Elmore Leonard

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I…

— Elmore Leonard

I don’t think writers compete, I think they’re all doing separate things in their own style.

— Elmore Leonard

After 58 years you'd think writing would get easier. It doesn't. If you're lucky, you become harder to please. That's all right,…

— Elmore Leonard

I'm not going to write for posterity. I'm going to write to make a buck.

— Elmore Leonard

Using adverbs is a mortal sin.

— Elmore Leonard

Try not to write the parts that people skip.

— Elmore Leonard

Writers - all writers, even screenwriters - like to make their mark. I don't think many screenwriters can write. They pass as…

— Elmore Leonard

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…

— Elmore Leonard

A pen connects you to the paper. It definitely matters.

— Elmore Leonard

“Write the book the way it should be written, then give it to somebody to put in the commas and shit.”

— Elmore Leonard

My most important piece of advice to all you would-be writers: when you write, try to leave out all the parts readers…

— Elmore Leonard

“I can't allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.”

— Elmore Leonard

If you take a few days to write an outline, you're just making up scenes that you think will work, that you…

— Elmore Leonard

At the time I begin writing a novel, the last thing I want to do is follow a plot outline. To know…

— Elmore Leonard

I think any writer is a fool if he doesn't do it for money. There needs to be some kind of incentive…

— Elmore Leonard

My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

— Elmore Leonard

Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue... I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with "she…

— Elmore Leonard

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

— Elmore Leonard

Writing screenplays is not my business. I've written half a dozen, and maybe half of those were made. But it was never…

— Elmore Leonard

I don't want the reader to be aware of me as the writer.

— Elmore Leonard

Never use an adverb to modify the verb 'said' . . . he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or…

— Elmore Leonard

It's my attempt to remain invisible, not distract the reader from the story with obvious writing.

— Elmore Leonard