Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing.

Reprinted on the occasion of his death. After all the rules, he has one more rule, which purportedly sums up all the rules: "If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it." I love that.

Of the more specific rules, I'm strangely fond of #6:

6. Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.”

You can tell he doesn't just mean don't use “suddenly” and “all hell broke loose.” He means don't use any of the typical words writers use to nudge us to get excited.

I like Rule #10 too:

10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

Here's the whole book, in case I skipped something.