Ten writing tips to help you get published
Courtesy of Gerry Webber from a piece in the New York Times from 2001:
Elmore Leonard’s 10 writing tips
From an article written in 2001
1. Never open with weather
2. Avoid prologues
3. Never use a verb other than ”said” to carry dialogue
4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb ”said”
5. Keep your exclamation points under control
6. Never use the words ”suddenly” or ”all hell broke loose”
7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly
8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters
9. Don’t go into great detail describing places and things
10. Try to leave out the parts that readers tend to skip
Read the full New York Times article here.
An anthology of modern short fiction recounting the quirkiness of the everyday, featuring DJ Mac and others.
DJ Mac is a writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland who fouters (dithers) with an itchy, scratchy pen in the moments when the bewilderment provoked by life settles. He is easily distracted by the bright pictures in his gallery.
