Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules for Writing

Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules for Writing

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Richard Feynman and Elmore Leonard - Both Cooler Than Cool

 "You get used to it, that was all. You made up your mind you were going to be good at it and not panic. It was something you developed in your mind, a coolness. No cooler than cool... It was a coldness you had to develop. The pro with ice water in his veins." - Elmore Leonard

Two weeks ago I finished a book and was looking through my bookshelves for a replacement. I happened upon the Richard Feynman memoir Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman and realized I had been thinking of the book recently but haven't read it in a while. So I started re-reading it.

Then the next day at 5:30 PM the power went out and soon it got too dark to read. That's when I picked up my backlit Kindle and saw Cooler than Cool the Elmore Leonard biography. So I started re-reading that too. The power came back about 7:00 PM the next day but I kept at both books.

It occurred to me that both men were "cooler than cool" and worth emulating - if not for their particular skills for their outlooks on life.

"I used to cross the United States in my automobile every summer, trying to make it to the Pacific Ocean. But, for various reasons, I would always get stuck somewhere - usually in Las Vegas." - Richard Feynman

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

Have a new Quotes for Today up on my Substack. As I've mentioned doing this as a way to thank those who have Subscribed. If you are a Subscriber - you should have received an email. Thanks.

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

Have a new Quotes for Today up on my Substack. As I've mentioned doing this as a way to thank those who have Subscribed. If you are a Subscriber - you should have received an email. Thanks.

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

Have a new Quotes for Today up on my Substack. As I've mentioned doing this as a way to thank those who have Subscribed. If you are a Subscriber - you should have received an email. Thanks!

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

Have a new Quotes for Today up on my Substack. As I've mentioned doing this as a way to thank those who have Subscribed. If you are a Subscriber - you should have received an email. Thanks!

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

Have a new Quotes for Today up on my Substack. As I've mentioned doing this as a way to thank those who have Subscribed. If you are a Subscriber - you should have received an email. Thanks!

Cooler Than Cool

My introduction to Elmore Leonard was visual, the movies Get Shorty and Jackie Brown plus was a big fan of the show Justified starring Leonard's creation Rayland Givens (played by Timothy Olyphant who was a co-star in another of my favorite shows Deadwood). I started reading some of his novels and was hooked. 

Just finished Cooler Than Cool: The Life and Works of Elmore Leonard by C.M. Kushins. It was a good book which I'd heartily recommend. Leonard's writing was once described as being between "pure genre and literature." I'd agree and if you're a fan of Leonard think you'd enjoy this book too.

Have a new review of the book up on Substack.

Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules for Writing

Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

Have a new Quotes for Today up on my Substack. As I've mentioned doing this as a way to thank those who have Subscribed. If you are a Subscriber - you should have received an email. Thanks!

Cooler Than Cool

Reading the biography of Elmore Leonard Cooler Than Cool by C.M. Kushins and am enjoying it. Constantly surprised that this movie like 3:10 to Yuma or Hombre or Mr. Majestyk was based upon his writing. Also cool to get the backstory to books you've read like City Primeval.

In about 1980-81 so I haven't gotten to the Get Shorty or Jackie Brown not to mention the Raylan Givens stories. Looking forward to it.

Cooler Than Cool

"And I wouldn't care to revise any of my past work. If nothing else, it indicates that I'm making progress, still learning, still trying to make it better." - Elmore Leonard

Don't know why but but this quote hit me hard. I review my earlier writing from this blog from time to time and I honestly can't tell if I've been making it better. Some of the old jokes still make me laugh and some of the old predictions make me wince - but better? I've been doing this blog for 21-years and I'm honestly not sure I'm getting any better at it. 

All I can do is keep trying to make it better I guess.

Djibouti

Recently read the Elmore Leonard book Djibouti and when people see me reading it they all say the same thing:

Them: What's Djibouti?

Me: It's Djibouti.

I may have been a bit facetious but it is really tough to explain. It's starts off describing Somali pirates, pivots to becoming an Al Qaeda terrorist plot, then into a classic Leonard Elmore crime novel. All this with documentary filmmakers Dara and Xavier as the heroes. Lots of good Leonard type dialog and characters.

I enjoyed the book. It was good brain candy when I needed a break from dry history and science. I recommend it.

More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Dr. Oz says the fraud at Medicaid was worse than even USAID.

- From the archives: Making battleship ice cream.

- Elmore Leonard's Western films. Seen all but 3 of these without even knowing they were based on Leonard's work.

- Jonathan Turley on the lawfare against the Trump Administration. 

Get Shorty

Read the Elmore Leonard book Get Shorty this week after already having seen the movie a couple of times. Enjoyed both very much.

Warning the plot is very similar but the ending is a bit different in both.

Justified: City Primeval

 

Justified is back on FX in an 8 part miniseries based on Elmore Leonard's City Primeval. I haven't seen the premiere but the critics have - and they liked it. May not have seen the show yet but I have read the book and it seems some changes have been added. Really looking forward to this.

Some Farnam Street Knowledge

- In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed.

- Externalities: Why We Can Never Do "One Thing"

- Elmore Leonard: 10 Rules of Writing

- First Principles: The Building Blocks of True Knowledge

- 10 Principles to Live an Antifragile Life

- Entropy: The Hidden Force that Complicates Life

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The AFL-CIO, a group of 21 scientists and the New England Patriots all filed amicus briefs in support of Tom Brady. Filing in support of Roger Goodell and the NFL was the Church of Satan... Interesting - Epix will be producing a series based upon Elmore Leonard's Get Shorty. I'm guessing this is in part due to the success of the Elmore Leonard based series Justified... .. The Shakespearean phrase "I'll tickle your catastrophe" just tickles my fancy... TJ Miller and Stephen Tobolowski equals gold...  Mae West said it 100-years ago "Those who are offended easily should be offended more often" and it is still true today... Just saying but a belly-dancing class should be a great place to meet women. Chances are you'd be the only guy...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Heh heh

- Interesting article on Vegas "sharps"

- Reminder that free agency isn't always a solution in baseball and is sometimes the root of new and worse problems

- Nice Elmore Leonard primer

- Awesome

- Who knew? Donald Rumsfeld is a Washington Capitals fan.

- Heh heh