Elmore Leonard’s 10 rules of writing are apparently famous but I’ve never come across them before. They were first published in the New York Times in 2001 – they’re pretty good.

Here they are without, Leonard’s additional explanations (which you can find in the original article).

1. Never open a book 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 part that readers tend to skip.

One that didn’t make the list but sums up his message is “If it sounds like writing, rewrite it”.

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