Some of those principles looked pretty familiar. I seem to
remember an interview with Leonard in Writer's Digest a few
years ago where he made some of the same observations. He's
often quoted as saying he leaves out the parts people won't
read.
Looking for the magazine article I was thinking of, I found
another one,
"Elmore Leonard: The Best Ear in the Business," (Writer's
Digest, June 1977) in which he talks about writing
dialogue.
"That [_she concluded_] is a written word, it interrupts the
scene, just as adverbs interrupt, especially _-ly_ adverbs
that modify said. [...] The line of dialogue should be clear
enough, in the voice of the character, in the character's
personality, that you don't have to write, 'he said
sarcastically." _Sarcastically_ stops the story. It is an
intrusion."
I remember when I used to read Robert B. Parker, and I read
about ten in a row, I suddenly realized that he only ever
used "said" plain, by itself, even with a question, which
never even had a question mark. Once I noticed, it started to
bother me. On the one hand, it conveys Spenser's flat
tough-guy tone pretty well. On the other, it seems to be a
very lazy way of doing that. Plus, he uses the same formula
for all characters.
Do they teach this rule against adverbs in creative writing?
I've heard of trying not to overuse the passive voice, but
fortunately no one ever made me eliminate adverbs.
I have to agree with Leonard on prologues. Some good books
have them, but I think the information would often be better
incorporated into the story itself.
And what do you make of his last line, "I read every word" of
the hooptedoodle in Steinbeck? If anyone's going to read it,
someone's got to write it. I guess it's just not going to be
Elmore Leonard. Don't everyone follow his rules.
Karin
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