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Competition

Spectator competition winners: why you should never open a novel with the weather

23 September 2023

9:00 AM

23 September 2023

9:00 AM

In Competition No. 3317 you were invited to provide an opening to a novel that bears out Elmore Leonard’s tip to writers: ‘Never open a book with weather.’ Leonard’s other bêtes noires, outlined in his 2007 10 Rules of Writing, include prologues, exclamation marks and the modification of the word ‘said’ with an adverb.

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