Elmore Leonard Quotes: top 80 famous quotes about Elmore Leonard

Elmore Leonard Quotes & Sayings

Happy to read and share the best inspirational Elmore Leonard quotes, sayings and quotations on Wise Famous Quotes.

I have fun writing. I don't make it a chore. I don't have to struggle with it. — Elmore Leonard

I once saw Dizzy Gillespie at a live show, and it made me want to go home immediately and start writing. — Elmore Leonard

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. — Elmore Leonard

He called out to no one in particular, Fire in the Hole! — Elmore Leonard

Leave out the parts that readers tend to skip. — Elmore Leonard

I do have fun writing, and a long time ago, I told myself, 'You got to have fun at this, or it'll drive you nuts.' — Elmore Leonard

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. — Elmore Leonard

Don't interrupt a man when he's giving himself hell. — Elmore Leonard

I still read Hemingway. I still read his short stories because they're so good. He doesn't waste any words. — Elmore Leonard

Quiet and calculating. He hasn't changed that much since. Always mild-mannered, the nice guy - until someone steps over the line and challenges him. — Elmore Leonard

A wife's faithful to her husband, subject to him. It's in the bible. — Elmore Leonard

I love Elmore Leonard. To me, True Romance is basically like an Elmore Leonard movie. — Quentin Tarantino

Fate was working its ass off when it got us all together. — Elmore Leonard

Skip the boring parts. — Elmore Leonard

I try to leave out the parts readers skip. — Elmore Leonard

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

You never know what somebody might tell you,' Chris said, 'when they think you're somebody else. — Elmore Leonard

Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. — Elmore Leonard

I used to be able to write five pages a day, every day, no problem. Now a good day is five or four pages, and that's from 9:30 A.M. until 6 P.M. — Elmore Leonard

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

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. — Elmore Leonard

I don't get in a position to be frightened. I don't do anything dangerous, and I always pay my bills. — Elmore Leonard

I get letters. I get several a week, I think. A lot of people want a picture, a lot of people just want an autograph. — Elmore Leonard

It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to sound like it does. — Elmore Leonard

All over the world ... the past was being wiped out by condominiums. — Elmore Leonard

Psychopaths ... people who know the differences between right and wrong, but don't give a shit. That's what most of my characters are like. — Elmore Leonard

It's my attempt to remain invisible, not distract the reader from the story with obvious writing. — Elmore Leonard

Not dreams but night changes, not destiny but path changes, always keep your hopes alive, luck may or may not change, but time definitely chages. — Elmore Leonard

A: Anyone who looks like she does has to be somebody ...
B: What does she look like?
A: An ice cream. I had a spoon I would have eaten her. — Elmore Leonard

My most important piece of advice to all you would-be writers: When you write, try to leave out all the parts readers skip. — Elmore Leonard

I've learned if you're ever angry enough to hit somebody, don't do it. Cool down and get yourself a pistol. — Elmore Leonard

To me, writing is the most fun. It's not always fun, but finally when you make it come out the way you want, it's then you can say, 'It's fun, boy.' — Elmore Leonard

I don't think writers compete, I think they're all doing separate things in their own style. — Elmore Leonard

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. — Elmore Leonard

Raylan got ready. — Elmore Leonard

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

Tony was a lawyer, so you had to accept the fact he was opinionated and full of shit. — Elmore Leonard

Do you want me to tell you what I give a shit about at age sixty-five', Cullen said, 'and what I don't give a shit about?'
(page 262) — Elmore Leonard

I always felt, you don't have a good time doin crime, you may as well find a job. — Elmore Leonard

She wondered what he looked like with his hat off and wondered again if he knew he was funny. — Elmore Leonard

I can't allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative. — Elmore Leonard

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. — Elmore Leonard

And she thought if you don't have the desire to fight or wait for something there's no reason for being on earth. — Elmore Leonard

Avoid Prologues. They can be annoying, especially a prologue following an introduction that comes after a foreword. — Elmore Leonard

If a man must make excuses for himself, continually argue with himself that he is a man, then he is better off dead. — Elmore Leonard

Bad guys are not bad guys twenty-four hours a day. — Elmore Leonard

He watched the eternity of the sky. The dark was restful, but the vastness was cold and made you draw something close to you. — Elmore Leonard

In the light of eternity, is it better to sell out and ride or stand up and walk? — Elmore Leonard

If work was a good thing, the rich would have it all and not let you do it. — Elmore Leonard

When you're really cute that's all you have to be, you make a career out of it. someone asks you what you do, you say, 'nothing. i'm cute. — Elmore Leonard

If you're going to spend your life standing on principle, you want to be sure everyone understands what the principle is. — Elmore Leonard

I don't believe in writer's block or waiting for inspiration. If you're a writer, you sit down and write. — Elmore Leonard

Try not to write the parts that people skip. — Elmore Leonard

Don't worry about what your mother thinks of your language. — Elmore Leonard

There's nothing like work to take your mind off your worries. — Elmore Leonard

I don't want the reader to be aware of me as the writer. — Elmore Leonard

I left advertising as fast as I could in 1961. And I haven't ever thought about going back. — Elmore Leonard

If it sounds like writing, I rewrite. — Elmore Leonard

Never use the words 'suddenly' or 'all hell broke loose.' — Elmore Leonard

I'm not going to write for posterity. I'm going to write to make a buck. — Elmore Leonard

All the information you need can be given in dialogue. — Elmore Leonard

There's something happening here, I know it. It's right in front of my face, but I just can't see it. — Elmore Leonard

Elmore Leonard famously said that a story is real life with the boring parts left out. — Lisa Cron

I spent most of my dough on booze, broads and boats and the rest I wasted. — Elmore Leonard

Let it Ride channels Elmore Leonard at the height of his powers, with dialogue Quentin Tarantino would kill for. — Ken Bruen

I won't read a book that starts with a description of the weather. I don't read books over 300 pages, though I'll make an exception for Don Delillo. — Elmore Leonard

She said very quietly, "Mitch?" "What?" "There's somebody downstairs." "I know there is. — Elmore Leonard

There were a lot of terms you had to learn, as opposed to the shylock business where all you had to know how to say was 'Give me the fuckin money. — Elmore Leonard

To me, a book is a book, an electronic device is not, and love of books was the reason I started writing. — Elmore Leonard

I thought I explained it to you. Boyd and I dug coal together. — Elmore Leonard

"Wonderful things can happen", Vincent said, "when you plant seeds of distrust in a garden of assholes." — Elmore Leonard

There are 500 million people on Facebook, but what are they saying to each other? Not much. — Elmore Leonard

Everyone has his own sound. I'm not going to presume how to tell anybody how to write. — Elmore Leonard

I got halfway through 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.' I don't get it at all. What's the big thrill? It's boring. — Elmore Leonard

I don't have any of the modern stuff. I don't have e-mail. I don't have a computer! — Elmore Leonard

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

Write the book the way it should be written, then give it to somebody to put in the commas and shit. — Elmore Leonard

The personality and the ego scream, while the soul whispers. — Elmore Leonard

A pen connects you to the paper. It definitely matters. — Elmore Leonard

Using adverbs is a mortal sin. — Elmore Leonard