The Memoir Seminar: Elmore Leonard's Rules of Good Writing

When Elmore Leonard died at 87 years old, he had won numerous prestigious awards for his writing including a National Book Award. He had written short stories, magazine articles, screen plays, and about 24 crime fiction bestsellers, such as Glitz, Get Shorty, and Maximum Bob.

One of his final books started out as an article for The New York Times. It was later expanded into a book called Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing and published in 2007. Some critics (and I am one of them) believe that these rules hold the secret to Leonard's writing success.

The rules cover everything from subject matter to writing style. They offer suggestions about weather and wordiness as well as what to put in and what to leave out of a manuscript. One of
Leonard's most famous writing tips is this one: "If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it."

The Fall 2026 Memoir Seminar course will discuss Leonard's writing advice as it applies to short memoirs as well as the class's own writing.