Just what's Elmore Leonard got to do with it anyway?

[essayel]

I'm in rant mode so be warned
I was reading one of copperbadge's excellent drabbles and went to comment and noticed that somone else had justified their suggestion that he trim a line or two citing Elmore bloody Leonard as an authority. This pisses me off royally and here are my reasons.

Elmore Leonard is a jolly good writer. I have read and sort of enjoyed several of his books. He has a nicely terse and economical writing style and in his dialogue one can hear the voice of modern America talking in the vernacular. That's fine! That's great. He is a bestseller and deserves that appelation. But that's HIS style. It's not Sam's style.

I contend that Leonard's particular writing style is fine for his contempory thriller/chiller/crime novels but would sound bloody silly in say a piece of romantic historical fiction, a story set in the Scottish lowlands or, for that matter, a piece of Harry Potter fan fiction. Of course one HP fic written in Leonard's style would be fun to read (Remus said, "I guess you'll be wanting coffee." "Sure," Sirius said, "easy on the cream.") but I would hate to think that we are now going to be deluged with Leonardalikes - that'll be so boring.

As for "How to Write a Bestseller in Three Easy lessons" well bugger that for a lark. In the very unlikely event I ever make it into print I want it to be my voice that people hear not a pale parody of somebody elses. My effort, my sweat, my mistakes and if it is approved then I can think 'hey they like ME!'

Phew, rant over! Ok it's safe you can come out now.

Ummm...Johnny Depp has booked into the Bear Hotel in Crickhowell. According to one of the waitresses he looks good enough to eat - though she thought his current hair style is bloody silly.

Comments

[fuchsoid.livejournal.com]

The Elmore Leonard rules seem to be fine if you want to write like Elmore Leonard. I can see why people giving advice to would-be writers might be chary of telling them to develop their own voice, but it does seem to me to be one of the most important parts of writing. I doubt that anyone ever really sat down and deliberately wrote a best-seller that was only intended to make money and actually did (OK, maybe Jeffrey Archer, but that would be stretching the definition of 'writer').
Is Johnny Depp filming The Libertine, do you know? I'd heard they'd lost the money for it and were abandoning it.

[essayel.livejournal.com]

I have no idea what the dear man is filming I'm just glad that he does.

[metallumai.livejournal.com]

Hi Sally! You do a lovely rant and for a good cause: nobody can, or should, write with somebody else's style.

Since I'm relatively new at fiction-writing-- what's it been, a year and a half?-- I've been trying different phrases and methods of getting from Point A to Point B, wondering how the hell people get visual life into endless conversation bits, and making stupid mistakes, and CHECKING TO SEE how other people do it.

But it seems to be a point of sheer bloody conceit that I want the whole thing not to look like anybody else's stuff. (I may not be able to write like I want to, just yet, but by god when you read it I hope you'll know I'm the one who did it.)

I am, in fact, rather fond of some of my better mistakes: in the first fic I ever wrote, there was a scene in which I had the character holding her wand up for light, holding hands with another character, and petting a dog. (with her third hand, presumably.) I fixed it as soon as I noticed, but kept the three-handed version just for sentimental reasons.

Almost off the subject: I just saw a book which may be the ultimate fanfiction: an author called Jasper Ffolkes, book title something like "The Eyre Affair." I am waiting my turn to read it, but it sems that everyone in the book is named for a character in literature. Further report when Dee's julia has finished it.

To sum up: I can't imagine telling someone to write like someone else. but I'm having all sorts of fun writing with someone else's characters.

You tell'em!

[essayel.livejournal.com]

Thanks Cam. And Depp has moved - he is now at the Gliffaes Hotel between Crickhowell and Bwlch (yes, that is the name of a village and not the noise one makes when throwing up). Up there, pure Agatha Christie with a library a terrace a gun room just think 'Cluedo', a web cam would stick out like a sore thumb so I can't see that happening.