Leonard's rules. 1. Hey, I can't start with: "It was a dark and stormy night"? Shucks. 2. Many a great book has a prologue, just don't call it that. 3. Never use a verb other than "said." I'd disagree to the point of saying it's a bad habit to conclude a question in dialog with "said so-and-so" always use "asked." You don't not want to do what the author of a book I was reading recently did, liberally replacing perfectly good "said" with "pronounced" over and over again. Ugh. 4. Don't modify "said with adverbs: I think that's a personal choice. If you *never* do it, sometimes you will be misunderstood. But, it's fair enough to warn against Tom Swifties. 5. Avoid exclamation points in narrative altogether. Use them as needed in dialog. She screamed, "For God's sake help me." with a period seems a little silly, doesn't it? 6. Avoid over using anything. Like with "very," it's easy to over do it. You can probably get away with a couple "suddenlys" in a chapter, but no more than one "all hell broke loose" per every two or three books. 7. Go easy on dialect: I'd agree. But some writers have been very good at it, and I wouldn't want to stifle them. You need a good editor to tell you yes or no. 8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters: I don't think he means avoiding describing characters. Just don't let it interrupt the flow. 9. Don't go into great detail describing places: As much as I don't like going into detail in place descriptions, there are folks who love reading that kind of thing. Dan Brown may not qualify as "respected," but I don't think Leonard could deny he's both popular and successful while blithering on about places. 10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip. That's a skill most would-be authors are never going to master. >>>> Edgar Allen Poe's list is more fun.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2019-09-10 01:09 pm (UTC)1. Hey, I can't start with: "It was a dark and stormy night"? Shucks.
2. Many a great book has a prologue, just don't call it that.
3. Never use a verb other than "said." I'd disagree to the point of saying it's a bad habit to conclude a question in dialog with "said so-and-so" always use "asked." You don't not want to do what the author of a book I was reading recently did, liberally replacing perfectly good "said" with "pronounced" over and over again. Ugh.
4. Don't modify "said with adverbs: I think that's a personal choice. If you *never* do it, sometimes you will be misunderstood. But, it's fair enough to warn against Tom Swifties.
5. Avoid exclamation points in narrative altogether. Use them as needed in dialog. She screamed, "For God's sake help me." with a period seems a little silly, doesn't it?
6. Avoid over using anything. Like with "very," it's easy to over do it. You can probably get away with a couple "suddenlys" in a chapter, but no more than one "all hell broke loose" per every two or three books.
7. Go easy on dialect: I'd agree. But some writers have been very good at it, and I wouldn't want to stifle them. You need a good editor to tell you yes or no.
8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters: I don't think he means avoiding describing characters. Just don't let it interrupt the flow.
9. Don't go into great detail describing places: As much as I don't like going into detail in place descriptions, there are folks who love reading that kind of thing. Dan Brown may not qualify as "respected," but I don't think Leonard could deny he's both popular and successful while blithering on about places.
10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip. That's a skill most would-be authors are never going to master.
>>>>
Edgar Allen Poe's list is more fun.