Post on 10 rules of Writing

I would like to start by saying that I love reading lists like Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing because I always learn something new or get an old question answered. This list has a few interesting pointers. One is that you should never use anything other than the word "said". I find this interesting because I feel that there are times when it makes the book a little more interesting, or at least less redundant when a writer uses other verbs. This rule is also interesting considering that another rule on Leonard's list is that there should never be an adverb describing the word "said". While I understand that if a writer needs to include an adverb modifying "said" than they probably didn't do a strong job of describing the situation. However, since an author following Leonard's rules cannot use any verb other than "said", their dialogue is more likely to come across as bland. Leonard argues that verbs other than "said" are intrusive, however; I find it to be the opposite. The other problem I have is that although Leonard is laying down ground rules, he gives examples of exceptions for many of them. What he is essentially saying is that if a person is good a writing, they can just ignore his rules. This makes the list almost useless since people good literature doesn't necessarily abide by it. One point that I agree with is "Use regional dialect sparingly", since it can be hard to read a book if you don't have any idea what's going on. I enjoyed reading this particular list, however it seems a little rushed and not well thought out to me due to the inclusion of exceptions.