Elmore Leonard Quotes

Elmore Leonard delivers witty, funny takes on writing, editing and crime that feel like a clever conversation with a sharp friend.

24 quotes

1. For a long time I've been walking down life's road with my two pals, Bad Luck and Bad Choices. Fortunately I'm a big believer in new beginnings, new friends, and running from my problems. So one day I decided to head for the island. Aloha, my name is Jack.

2. If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

3. I leave out the parts that people skip.

4. What do you tell a man with two black eyes? Nothing, he's already been told twice.

5. My grandson, Max, who is an all state lacrosse player, once gave me some lacrosse advice: A limp pass is like a limp dick; it doesn't get the job done. I think the same can be said about limp writing.

6. Well, the man don't just have to die, Foley. I mean, he could accidentally hurt himself falling down on something real hard, you know? Like a shiv, or my dick?

7. It's like seeing someone for the first time, and you look at each other for a few seconds, and there's this kind of recognition like you both know something. Next moment the person's gone, and it's too late to do anything about it.

8. I know a guy who walks into a bank with a little glass bottle. He tells everyone it's nitroglycerin. He scores some money off the teller, walks out. On his way out, the bottle breaks, he slips on it and knocks himself out. The 'nitro' was Canola oil. I know more fucked-up bank robbers than ones who know what they're doing. I doubt if one in twenty could tell you where the dye pack is. Most bank robbers are fucking morons.

9. I think the best advice I give is to try not to write. Try not to overwrite, try not to make it sound too good. Just use your own voice. Use your own style of putting it down.

10. It took me 20 years to buy an electric typewriter, because I was afraid it would be too sensitive. I like to bang the keys. I'm doing action stories, so that's the way I like to do it.

11. The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in.

12. I have fun writing. I don't make it a chore. I don't have to struggle with it.

13. If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can't allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.

14. I don’t think writers compete, I think they’re all doing separate things in their own style.

15. After 58 years you'd think writing would get easier. It doesn't. If you're lucky, you become harder to please. That's all right, it's still a pleasure.

16. I'm not going to write for posterity. I'm going to write to make a buck.

17. Using adverbs is a mortal sin.

18. Try not to write the parts that people skip.

19. I want the reader to know what's going on. So there's never a mystery in my books.

20. My purpose is to entertain and please myself. I feel that if I am entertained, then there will be enough other readers who will be entertained, too.

21. If I have several bad guys and I only want to end up with one of them, then I have to decide which one I want in the end. And normally it's the one who is the most interesting talker.

22. Writers - all writers, even screenwriters - like to make their mark. I don't think many screenwriters can write. They pass as writers.

23. I don't judge in my books. I don't have to have the antagonist get shot or the protagonist win. It's just how it comes out. I'm just telling a story.

24. I do this a lot with names. I'll start with a name, and then for some reason he won't talk much, or he's older than I pictured him just because of a name I give him. So then I finally get the right name, and I can't shut the guy up. This always happens. There's always a character who gives me trouble that way.