That's a quote by one of the great writers of our time, asked once to comment on writing. It's as terse as much of his other writing, and as right on. It is IMO high wisdom, the very *essence* of great writing.
Elmore Leonard was a true craftsman, an artist who, like Raymond Chandler before him, changed the world forever with his writing, and all while staying within genres that the intelligentsia never really considered "writing." You know his dialogue even if you've never read a single one of his books, from the many movies and TV shows based on the books (like "Justified," "Out Of Sight," "Be Cool," "Get Shorty," "Killshot," "3:10 To Yuma," or "Jackie Brown"), and from the thousands of others that tried to emulate his style, and failed. He will be missed. http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130820/ENT09/308200051/American-novelist-Elmore-Leonard-has-died
