Great piece here. I forgot Jackie Brown was adapted from Elmore. Get Shorty was another good one, though I’ve never actually read his work. Loved the 11 commandments too.
I'm a big fan of his, and how instructive he is/was, I've seen those rules of his before. They seem more like warnings, like he's beating you up in advance for not trusting the reader to know what you mean. I think he would be appalled at the constant driveling about process, at the advise giving, the over-explaining that is a constant staple today. That's why each rule is a different way of saying, say less, get out of the way. I would never add a rule to a master's list of rules, but do as you must. Long live Elmore Leonard.
Like you, Cole, Elmore makes you see like a former blind man, to take off -- no, to rip off -- your too-studied wardrobe of writing...and just let the story talk. To be told.
Not gonna lie...#8 and #9 are hard for me as a writer. LOL I'm a visual person. If I can't picture what the characters look like, it's a DNF for me.
Great piece here. I forgot Jackie Brown was adapted from Elmore. Get Shorty was another good one, though I’ve never actually read his work. Loved the 11 commandments too.
I'm a big fan of his, and how instructive he is/was, I've seen those rules of his before. They seem more like warnings, like he's beating you up in advance for not trusting the reader to know what you mean. I think he would be appalled at the constant driveling about process, at the advise giving, the over-explaining that is a constant staple today. That's why each rule is a different way of saying, say less, get out of the way. I would never add a rule to a master's list of rules, but do as you must. Long live Elmore Leonard.
Like you, Cole, Elmore makes you see like a former blind man, to take off -- no, to rip off -- your too-studied wardrobe of writing...and just let the story talk. To be told.
Jackie Brown must be my favorite Tarantino movie.
True on something about Elmore Leonard's writing.
Yours on Rewrite too...