![]() Now the question is what, exactly, are darlings? The term applies to anything that bogs down your story unnecessarily, but there are a few things that you can specifically watch out for. ![]() ![]() With a finished first draft in hand, you can start ruthlessly murdering anything that doesn’t serve a purpose in your story. You should always feel free to write the scene, but during editing, that interaction might find itself on the execution block. It’s not moving the plot forward (i.e., helping us find our killer), and it’s not teaching us anything new about our protagonist. Rehashing those feelings with the sister could be redundant, even if it’s one of the best confrontations you’ve ever written. But the detective has already expressed his guilt about his perceived hand in her death and has suitably complied with genre conventions by drinking extreme amounts of alcohol to cope while beating himself up about it. The detective may have an emotionally-loaded argument with his late wife’s sister, where she blames him for her sibling’s death. One of these is not quite like the others, however. You include scenes where he reminisces about his wife while working on the case, as well as conversations with witnesses, potential suspects, and his wife’s sister. He takes on a new case that bears a stunning similarity to his wife’s unsolved murder. Imagine you’re writing a story about a hard-boiled noir detective with a mysterious past. Instead, consider whether it actually belongs.Īnd if you’re having a hard time finding or editing out the parts of your story that don’t work yourself, an editor can help you make the tough calls and identify what needs to be cut or changed. It reminds you not to get attached to something just because you love it, even if it’s the finest piece of prose in your manuscript. Killing your darlings is less writing advice so much as it is editing advice. Once the initial excitement has faded and you’re looking at a completed rough draft, that’s when you can take out the red pen and decide who or what to snuff out. Let your creativity run free and wild as you write your first draft. ![]() Being creative is already difficult, and it only gets harder if you’re constantly policing every sentence. Write it! Get all of those wonderful, ridiculous, and perhaps slightly unneeded ideas out of your system and onto the page. In fact, he encourages writers to give in to their impulses. But also notice that Quiller-Couch doesn’t say avoid writing anything beautiful or extraneous at all costs. Murder your darlings.”įirst of all, notice how “kill your darlings” is an appropriately succinct variation on this long, somewhat dramatic quote. If you here require a practical rule of me, I will present you with this: “Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it - whole-heartedly - and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Let’s take a look at Arthur Quiller-Couch’s original advice: Click to tweet! If something doesn’t serve your story, it has to go ![]()
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