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I cannot believe that the passing of Elmore Leonard has not been more widely announced - and grieved over!
He gave me enormous amounts of enjoyment over the years and several examples of his work have been turned into film - perhaps the most widely known would include "Get Shorty" and "3:10 to Yuma". "Jackie Brown" was also based on one his stories.
For the New York Times, he made 10 rules for writing - which can be seen in the attached link, and expanded fully by seeing the NYT site.
http://mashable.com/2013/08/20/elmore-leonard-rules-of-writing/
Farewell Elmore
Thanks for the thrills and the laughs.
Julia.
Comments
Great writer, great advice
Elmore Leonard wrote like a downhill racer on a ski jump over the pits of hell. Headlong, strong, brave, with all the appearance of recklessness but in reality controlled, calm, cool and ultimately intellectual.
Remember though that he wrote mostly thrillers and mysteries. Spare and sparse, lean and mean, was his style and his glory. No one did it better and no one did it quite the way he did.
So keep his advice in context, don't over apply it in places it does not belong. In particular, numbers 8 and 9 can be dangerous to misunderstand.
Romance writing, for instance, many times requires detailed character descriptions. Adventure, fantasy and science fiction often need detailed scene setting that would be out of place in a thriller.
But yes, listen to one of the masters. And if you can write like a backfire tornado, with an ear for dialog like a combination bartender-clinical psycologist-court reporter, you'll already know how to use his advice to best effect.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Writers on Writing
Writers on Writing
These are links to the complete archive of the Writers on Writing column, a New York Times series in which writers explore literary themes.
If you see writers on this list whose writing you particularly admire, now's your chance to see what they think about writing.
Conversely, if there's advice on that list which seems particularly a propos, by a writer you're unfamiliar with, you might think about taking a looksee.
Writing is a very long apprenticeship programme, and one learns the basics by lots and lots of reading.
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Failure to copy
When I tried to copy and paste these links into an e-mail to a friend, they turned to plain text. Using Safari, I noticed that the cursor could not highlight the odd character after each name.
Solution?
Liz
That's not how to copy links
At least not in most browsers. You can hover over a link and copy each one individually using right click to open a menu or you can use the Tools menu to view the source and copy from there. The peculiar character after each link is just a thing added by Drupal to show you that the link will open a new window or tab.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
In Safari...
One can choose the "Develop" Tab, scroll down slightly and select View Page Source.
One can then cut and paste anything one desires. That particular list of links is easily distinguished from the noise.
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
That actually worked!
But of course, I use Eudora for e-mail, which is text only so the pasted material looked a little strange. Here's hoping that the HTML code will look better on my friends HTML mail.
Thanks to Erin as well, although her advice did not work on a Mac running Safari.
Liz
Perhaps it was a misunderstanding...
When one right-clicks a link in Safari, a menu pops up. Almost exactly half-way down the menu, there's a separate category called "Copy Link." Select it. The html code for that particular link is copied to the clipboard and can be pasted wherever one desires.
Granted, viewing the source and copying the whole bunch at one time is a bit less work.
It will have looked a bit odd, though, since I took Drupal into account when I created the code, so didn't bother with HTML "housekeeping."
Seeing how much trouble this caused, I'm updating the code to include actual HTML, so you might try copying it again if all else fails.
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
I wasn't at home using my Mac with Safari
I was at the bookstore using Firefox on a Win7 machine. :) The moves were equivalent but not having the Mac in front of me, I did not remember what the menu choice was called in Safari. That particular installation of Win7 will not run the latest Safari (or Chrome) and someone had deleted the old copy I had installed, probably because it kept asking to be updated but the update would not install. Sigh.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
In a past life...
I was in charge of training for a computer and network support department. At one time, I could talk a user through anything that was possible to do on a screen just by listening and talking but then I've always been a talker.
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Fabulous addition
Great job, P
Thanks
If those are the rules then I
If those are the rules then I guess I'm a bit of a rebel.
And currently, due to a combination of the dreaded 'b' word and the cricket, a rebel without a clause...
(It's okay, I'll see myself out)
I have enjoyed all of his
I have enjoyed all of his books that I read.
The great TV series, Justified is based on his book Fire in the Hole.
He will be missed.
D
Actually....
It's based on Ralan. Hence the main characters name.
D. Eden
Dum Vivimus, Vivamus
When I read or hear "never" or "always" I ---
never believe what comes next, because it is always a lie!!!!!!!
Ok, now that I have your attention, GOOD writers break the rules of good writing. BUT, and here is the IMPORTANT part, they KNOW when and how they break the rules. (If they are successful writers.) in order to know when and how to break rules in a way to make the writing GOOD, one has to KNOW the rules, ALL the rules.
I'm sure there are many people who will dispute my premise and that is life. It is still MY premise.
with love,
Hope
Once in a while I bare my soul, more often my soles bear me.
Took me decades to learn to write well
And now I realize I don't have anything to say that anyone needs to hear. Ain't that a bitch?
And remember...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifLqzLEB3E0
Don't feel bad
No-one listens to me either.
with love,
Hope
Once in a while I bare my soul, more often my soles bear me.
Did someone speak?
*grin*
Hope, you may never know just how many people DO listen to you.