We're not great fans of Elmore Leonard but know that many of you are. (He lost us some time ago with his idiotic NY Times essay on writing - not worth linking to.) At any rate, as part of our ongoing public service stance, we bring you this brief Q&A.
Why don't you give people a link to Leonard's advice, and let them judge for themselves? Don't you believe in a democracy of taste, you elitest you?
Leonard's advice isn't nasty -- it's superb.
Posted by: Sam | January 30, 2004 at 06:06 AM
I think Dutch's advice works for some people and doesn't for others. Which is kind of like writing advice in general, I suppose.
Posted by: Sarah | January 30, 2004 at 06:47 AM
You're right, Sarah. I just think it's a funny, well-written piece that makes you think a little bit. In contrast to the rest of that rather earnest and endless NYT series.
Posted by: Sam | January 30, 2004 at 07:14 AM
LOL ... I'm assaulted by friends this morning!!
C'mon - "leave out the parts nobody reads"? Which parts are those.
TLS NB summed up this piece quite nicely a few weeks after it ran. I'll see if I can find it. But you're right - I should have linked. I was being cranky.
Posted by: TEV | January 30, 2004 at 08:05 AM
OK, here's the TLS item:
For what it's worth, Sarah, I always thought the last line was a bit of a cheap shot. But I kinda agree with the rest.
Posted by: TEV | January 30, 2004 at 08:13 AM
Damn -- I hate it when people use NB against me. He's right on everything but James, who needs a little tightening up.
Posted by: Sam | January 30, 2004 at 08:44 AM
The opening description of Leonard as "fashionable" is also a shot. What an elitist - or, hey, maybe the writer is being ironic. I mean, the bit about the passage on agronomy. So, what, we agree it's painful and tedious, but it's good for us? Or something. Sort of literary cod liver oil...
The point is, Leonard was asked for his opinion. These are his own rules. He actually indicates that Steinbeck breaks many of those rules but that he (Leonard) finds him totally readable. So he's NOT being didactic.
Regarding the TLS comment. If you don't like American crime fiction... so what? How is one other person's idiosyncrasy relevant to an article in which one author is asked to give their opinion on how they do it?
Cheers
Andrew
Posted by: AW | February 25, 2004 at 02:13 AM