Paige Hawthorne: Blog

A reader sent me a copy of those famous tips from the extraordinary Elmore Leonard:

1 Never open a book with weather.
2 Avoid prologues.
3 Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.
4 Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said"…he admonished gravely.
5 Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.
6 Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose."
7 Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
8 Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
9 Don't go into great detail describing places and things.
10 Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

Mr. Leonard, "My most important rule is one that sums up the 10.
If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it."

My favorite, and I imagine it's so for a number of other would-be writers, is # 10. Numbers 8 and 9 are interesting - - avoid details. Hmm, I'll have to think on that one.

The problem with any list of writing rules is, of course, that a talented writer can ignore them and still produce a remarkable piece of work. The flip side can apply too. An untalented hack can follow Mr.Leonard's tips devotedly and end up with dreck.

Paige

I devour each new Reacher book, each year. Though there was one thing I had completely missed. I recently read an article that pointed out some of Mr. Child's books are written in the first person. Others in the third.

My take on not noticing this isn't because I'm under-observant. One is allowed to self-determine such traits, no?

I believe the reason I missed such an obvious style change is that Lee Child is just such a damn good writer that he gets me hooked from the start.

For some unknown reason, I prefer his books that are set in America more than the European ones. Even though he is British, he surely nails down the scene here.

Paige

People have written me that there is a 'tell' chapter in the SOL stories. One chapter whose reader scores indicate approximately what the final judgement numbers will be. I wonder if that's so?

Let's hypothesize a yes. Then which one chapter is most indicative of reader evaluations?

Almost everyone agrees it's not the first chapter with its inflated download numbers.

There's a 'second chapter' contingent who favor that one because the overweighted first chapter is history.

Some in here advocate for the last chapter. That's understandable because some readers wait until the story is complete to read it. And vote.

Then there's the penultimate crowd. The favor the next-to-last chapter because they believe that negative-voters fast-forward to the final chapter in order to low-vote the story at the very end.

(Why wait? Are late votes weighed more heavily?)

In any case, I'm curious if there is a golden chapter. It's purely an academic question on my part. I don't pay any attention to my own story scores and certainly don't compare them with the higher-ranked efforts by you talented bastards.

Paige

Okay, my "Winter's Gamble" reader scores are located down here (imagine a palm-down gesture between my waist and boobs).

More talented writers (raise hand above boobs) are up here.

Just an observation, I hardly ever even bother to check my scores. Maybe 15 or 20 times a day.

Now, don't bother to tell me that I'm a good writer, that scores are meaningless, the system is flawed, etc. Intellectually, facts are one thing. But competitively, emotionally …

Fuck.

Paige

One of the writing mistakes I make - - hey, I'm on a learning curve here - - is that I'm assuming the reader is paying attention. Some are of course. Maybe.

But we all have lives to live, some of us have busy ones. A visit to here is a small part of a distracted day. Plus, if you're following several stories which evolve chapter by chapter … well, I can understand why some readers wait until a story is complete.

Where am I going with this? Not sure. But I'm coming to think I need a strong central character like Robert P. Parker's Spenser. A compelling story line, interesting details. None of which I've been able to develop at this early stage.

Or maybe I'm overthinking the process.

Fuck.

Paige

P. S. My rogue editor, thornfoote, (who continues to deny most of the pending felony charges) suggested I create a Winter's Universe. Cool tip.