Elmore Leonard was a prolific and successful writer who found late success with crime and mystery. In this gritty production (only 7 minutes) “Dutch” gives some clarity to writers.
This one hit home for me. His characters ‘audition’ in the first 100 pages. He names his characters. In one case, one of his characters appeared but never said a word. He changed that characters name and he “couldn’t shut him up.”
Watch it. There’s more to learn from this legend.
And if you want to learn more from him, try these (poor audio but gems of info).
Video 1 (32 mins) Part 1 of 2
Video 2 (16 mins) Part 2 of 2
“I love the sound of speech.”
That is a terrific tip for writers. Dialogue is king in Leonard’s works. It brings immediacy and reality to his work. Fall in love with the sound of speech and you’ll improve your own writing. Get comfortable writing great diaogue that moves your story forward.