Like many people, I woke up this morning to the news that
legendary crime and mystery writer Elmore Leonard has passed away at the age of
87. I started reading books like Get Shorty,
Maximum Bob, and Rum Punch in junior
high. While in the intervening years I moved away from his fiction for periods
of time time, I always admired his prose. Along the way, I realized he also wrote
films that were just as badass as his books. Movies like 3:10 to Yuma, Joe
Kidd, and Mr. Majestyk (who else beside Elmore
Leonard and Charles Bronson could make melon farming kick so much ass?) are
important works of the stern-faced, stoic, gritty genre that I hold very near
and dear to my heart. Justified, a show not only based on
Leonard’s work, but produced by him as well, is currently the reigning champion
of gravelly crime dramas on TV.
There isn’t much that I can say about Leonard that hasn’t
already been said with more eloquence elsewhere, so I think it’s best to let
the man speak for himself. What follows are Elmore Leonard’s 10 rules forwriting. Not only to do they offer valuable advice to anyone looking to hone
their craft, they provide a quick insight into the way his mind worked. Read
them, learn them, love them. Enjoy.
