Try to leave out the parts that readers tend to skip.

Elmore Leonard (1925–2013), celebrated for his lean, dialogue-driven crime fiction, became widely quoted for his practical advice on style and revision. This line is associated with his “rules of writing,” a set of craft principles he circulated in interviews and essays late in his career, emphasizing pace, clarity, and readerly momentum. The remark reflects Leonard’s long experience as a commercial storyteller—first in Westerns and later in crime novels—where he learned that exposition, throat-clearing, and ornamental prose can stall narrative drive. It is often cited in discussions of editing as a reader-centered test: identify the passages that feel skimmable and cut or rewrite them.

Leonard’s dictum is a blunt, pragmatic standard for revision: if a passage invites skipping, it is not earning its place. The “parts readers tend to skip” typically include overlong description, backstory dumps, self-indulgent digressions, or explanatory scaffolding that the story could convey through action and dialogue. The quote implies an ethic of respect for the reader’s attention and a belief that narrative should move with purpose. It also hints at Leonard’s aesthetic—transparent prose that disappears behind character voice and scene—where the goal is not verbal display but sustained engagement. In practice, it encourages writers to diagnose boredom as a craft problem, not a reader’s failing.

“If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.”
“I try to leave out the parts that people skip.”
“Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.”