Elmore Leonard Quotes

As a novelist, you have to be free. Books can't be an act of filial duty.

The way I look at a solo project is, I create what I want with whoever I want.

I've been so spoiled in the theater, writing plays where I can just do exactly what I want and nobody messes with me.

I like recording by myself wherever I can, just because then I feel like I have ultimate freedom, and I can just control whatever I want to put down. There's something about going into your own little world.

I just write books, and I do it without any notion of what I should do or shouldn't do.

The best part about stand-up is that you control everything. Period. When you work in movies, or on TV shows, there are 50 other people involved.

I was pretty happy with how my career had gone, mainly because of the enormous freedom I've had to write what I've wanted to write. I had a very clear picture of who I was as a writer.

I think I'll continue to work as a solo artist.

I write my books never thinking of an actor.

I don't perceive an audience at all when I write a book. It's pure self-indulgence.

I really enjoy the creative freedom that I get when I produce my own projects.

I would design for anybody who gives me a free hand and who doesn't sit on my head.

I will write an entire script but not be commissioned by anyone. I want the freedom to walk away from it. If you're uncomfortable, I will go away. There is no middle ground with me. Also because if I change my character, my story changes.

Ultimately, I think what I want from my career is to be able to create work for myself, and there's only so much you can do as an actor in a movie.

You can't tell someone how to write their own book.

That's the nice thing about songwriting: You don't have to punch a clock or be in a specific place to do it. There's really a lot of freedom to it.

Exactly what I'm doing is what success looks like. I get to create on my own terms, on my own timeline, and I'm able to support myself and my mom and my cat comfortably.

I don't usually collab with producers, because I don't need to. I never have, because I don't want to break my style of how I do things.

I think I prefer writing books because the work of art begins and ends with you - it's easier to know if you're doing it right, as opposed to writing a play and then waiting around for somebody else to complete it.

When I'm writing, I am just doing what feels right for me.

As an author, I had spent years writing my stories on my own in a quiet room. My ideas traveled from my brain to my fingers, executed exactly as I saw fit, never veering from my own intent. TV simply doesn't work that way.

Working solo means you don't have to account for anybody else. You do it yourself, so you're not trying to please others as well as yourself; you're just trying to do the best you can.

I am not really interested in only showcasing my life or work but plan to produce, write and create work that is solely my vision.

When I write a movie, I write it for me.

There are no rules when I'm making stuff. That's why I'm glad I'm not signed. No one's telling me I got to drop this type of single or this video.