American - Novelist | October 11, 1925 - August 20, 2013
I don't have any of the modern stuff. I don't have e-mail. I don't have a computer!
Elmore Leonard
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I left advertising as fast as I could in 1961. And I haven't ever thought about going back.
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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.
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People ask me, 'Why are you still writing books?' Like I'm still only writing to make money and as soon as I have enough I'll quit and go fishing? I like to write books. It's the most satisfying thing I do.
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Really, when I write a book I'm the only one I have to please. That's the beauty of writing a book instead of a screenplay.
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I never see my bad guys as simply bad. They want pretty much the same thing that you and I want: they want to be happy.
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My characters have to talk, or they're out. They audition in early scenes. If they can't talk, they're given less to do, or thrown out.
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Writing screenplays is not my business. I've written half a dozen, and maybe half of those were made. But it was never a satisfying experience. It was just work. You're an employee. You would be told what to do. Studio execs would cross out my dialogue and put in their dialogue.
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I think any writer is a fool if he doesn't do it for money. There needs to be some kind of incentive in addition to the project. It all goes together. It's fun to sit there and think of characters and get them into action, then be paid for it.
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I don't have any of the modern electronics at all. I know the Internet would be a distraction. I would see things that interested me and never get back to writing.
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I once saw Dizzy Gillespie at a live show, and it made me want to go home immediately and start writing.
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I don't get in a position to be frightened. I don't do anything dangerous, and I always pay my bills.
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