Literature: Elmore Leonard wins Crime Writers Association award

Literature: Elmore Leonard wins Crime Writers Association award; ENGLAND: London: National Film Theatre: INT Elmore Leonard (Crime writer) interviewed SOT - Every character has to have a definite attitude, an angle, doesn't mean an illegal angle, this guy is funny, this guy complains all the time, define the characters by the way they talk SEQUENCE Close-up shots of copies of Leonard's books 'City Primeval' / 'Get Shorty' / 'Out of Sight' / 'Rum Punch' / 'Maximum Bob' Close-up first page of 'Trail of the Apache' Leonard interviewed SOT - I couldn't believe it, I was telling everybody, I sold my first story, I was working at an ad agency, writing Chevrolet copy, when I was at work I would write in the drawer and write, didn't watch what I was doing, if someone came in I just closed the door Close-up shot of Leonard's book 'The Complete Western Stories' Leonard interviewed SOT - I wrote eight western novels altogether, switched over to crime because it is a marketable genre, but let's do it as well as we can, do it a little differently Close-up shot of Leonard's book 'Glitz' Leonard interviewed SOT - Still took until 1985 to get on The Times list, didn't think I wrote well enough or poorly enough to get on the list Glass question SOT Leonard interviewed SOT - I've been doing it so long, I listen to people, the way they talk, it's easy to put the information down through someone's eyes, but to make it interesting, that's something else, something that you work on to make it on, you polish continually, I write at least four pages to get one CUTAWAY Glass intercepting SOT Glass question on stylistic rules SOT Leonard interviewed SOT - There are rules for me, I can offer them to writers, like never use the word 'suddenly,' or don't open with 'whether,' don't use other verbs to indicate dialogue, you don't need something else that describes the way the character is saying it if you have presented the character properly