I was very sad to hear that Elmore Leonard died last week. I like crime novels, and really enjoyed a
number of his books.
Elmore Leonard's prose was taut; he had a way of pulling you into a story while sparing unnecessary details and embellishment. To this point, he also became known for his 10 rules of writing.
They have already been repeated in many articles following Leonard's death. Rather than just reiterate the rules, I thought I would try to find some takeaways for tech PR writers:
1. Never open a book with weather
I guess what he is saying is that you need a strong opening, and should not rely on cliches like "It was a dark and stormy night".
PR people, too, should avoid cliches such as falling back on empty hype or jargon words; by all means, open in an attention-getting way, with a strong headline, great lead, etc.
2. Avoid prologues
Great advice; people just don't have time today for lengthy intros, whether it is via an email or a company backgrounder. These things are needed, but get to the point and do it quickly. Save education and detailed info for the briefings and decks.
3. Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue
Here, I think he meant that writers should not get too fancy or flowery; keep the prose tight and to the point. Let the characters do the talking.
There is not much dialogue in tech PR writing, but I would agree that narrative fire power and flourishes should be saved for the main story.
4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said"
According to Fast Company, "Leonard writes that these words that distract and interrupt 'the rhythm of the exchange,' are a 'mortal sin.'"
I don't believe that this is an issue in most tech PR writing; however, the larger point – that you should be economical with your words, and not interrupt the flow with extra verbiage – is a good one.
5. Keep your exclamation points under control
We should not get lazy and use punctuation like exclamation points to create excitement. Hype words like "revolutionary", "leading edge", etc. are another lazy device and artificial way to create excitement – and should be avoided.
6. Never use the words "suddenly" or "all Hell broke loose"
See the above comments, for Rule 5.
7. Use regional dialects sparingly
I am not so sure about this one – they might make press release quotes more interesting!
8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters
See my comments for Rule 2
9. Don't go into great detail describing places and things
Ditto
10 Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip
This is a tough one, as some reporters might be too easily tempted to skip most of our pitches and press releases. Does this mean we don't write them at all? How do we balance the need to communicate details and substance, but also be very spare in our copy?
Many complain that press release quotes don't say much. Is the answer to leave them out because the reader is likely to skip them anyway? No, make sure you get good and really interesting quotes.
You do need to make in interesting, relevant and include just enough in the way of details. Layer information. Make sure your headline or email subject line is interesting and neatly encapsulates the story. Expand on the information in the initial copy. Save details for links, files, briefings, etc.
What do you think? By the way, if you are interested in writing tips from great writers, check out my post on James Ellroy.
