In Memoriam: Elmore Leonard (1925–2013)

Scott Myers

20 Aug 2013 • 1 min read

Reported today that writer Elmore Leonard died at the age of 87. Just a few of his novels and short stories that were turned into movies and TV series: 3:10 to Yuma (1957, 2007), Get Shorty (1995), Jackie Brown (1997), Out of Sight (1998), and “Justified” (2010–2014). Leonard was also a screenwriter with several film and TV movie credits including Stick (1985), 52 Pick-Up (1986), and Desperado (1987).

Here are some notable press reports on Leonard’s death:

Elmore Leonard’s 10 rules for writing:

Never open a book with weather.
Avoid prologues.
Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.
Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said” … he admonished gravely.
Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.
Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.”
Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
Don’t go into great detail describing places and things.
Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

A 2001 Writers on Writing piece Leonard did about his rules in the NYT.

A 2002 New York Review of Books review by Margaret Atwood on Leonard’s novel “Cops and Robbers.”

A 2004 feature on Leonard in the Guardian.

10 Elmore Leonard movies you can watch online right now.

For several videos with Leonard on the craft of writing including a rare 1984 sit-down, hit More.