Elmore Leonard advice

The Code of the West

The Code of the West was bullshit in some ways, but here it is explained on this website. (https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-codewest/

I described it as I did because the Code often did not prevent the murder of non-whites or the disdain for their rights. It did not prevent the wholesale slaughter of the buffalo (bison). Aside from that, it served well for the frontier, before civilization and written down laws took hold. My characters mostly uphold that Code. The ones who don't do not fare very well. 

Pushing On

I would love to get these longer works finished. Ideas for short stories crowd in with increasing frequency. I already have lost some really good ones from being slow and disorganized. I am going to make an extraordinary push, this week, to get close to the end, of Mexican Red. It's wishful thinking, in part. But, we shall see.  

Writing with my own voice

I once opened a Charles Dickens novel, with the intent to study how he built a paragraph, how he structured his sentences, how he colored a scene and brought it to life. I learned I could not hope to write well if compared with one such as he. In my opinion, such endless invention cannot be learned. So I have contented myself to muddle through by writing in my own voice. And I am sometimes contented with what I read.  

My Vision

My conception of a western tale is to keep it moving. No long involved purple prose. I never wanted to follow any long-winded tale, waiting for the next action to take place. I want the no pause roller coaster that thrills to the end and leaves the rider enervated and slightly sick in the stomach. To the best of my ability, that is what I am providing.