Quote Origin: Every Writer Has a Lifetime Ration of Three Exclamation Points

William Maxwell? Annabel Davis-Goff? Elmore Leonard? Helen Dudar? Benjamin Dreyer? William Safire? F. Scott Fitzgerald? Sheilah Graham? Christopher Morley? Terry Hersom? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: The stylistically appropriate use of exclamation points is a contentious topic. One writer proposed the following comically extreme self-contradictory rule: Kill all exclamation points!!! Style guides have presented the …

Quote Origin: I Try To Leave Out the Parts that People Skip

Elmore Leonard? Marty Asher? Leonore Fleischer? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The funniest and most cogent writing advice I have ever heard was delivered by the best-selling author Elmore Leonard. According to folklore, an aspiring novelist implored Leonard to reveal the secret of his success, and he replied with something like this: I leave out …

Quote Origin: They Haven’t Done Anything to My Book. It’s Right There on the Shelf

Raymond Chandler? James M. Cain? Alan Moore? William S. Burroughs? Larry Niven? Stephen King? Elmore Leonard? William Faulkner? Owen Sheers? Question for Quote Investigator: I have heard the following anecdote told about Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, Stephen King, and Elmore Leonard. A journalist once visited the house of a popular author who had sold …