Having moved past our series of entries on people being mean to you (which is going to happen, just in case you miraculously managed to miss that memo), it's time to begin a totally new topic here in my series of fifty essays based around my fifty thoughts on writing. We're starting to get into the really philosophical, and hence somewhat more difficult to express, concepts. That means we're heading for more headaches and a lot more fun. Also, hopefully, more bribery, as we're standing at the gateway of candy corn and pumpkin products season. Remember, a bribed blonde is a happy blonde. A darling blonde. And that brings us to today's topic:

Thoughts on Writing #6: Kill Your Darlings.

That's right: I'm advocating murder. Now, before you call the police to report me as a hazard to the human race, I think we'd better take a look at the thought that goes with the title, because it's going to make a lot of things a lot more clear:

Kill your darlings. You can save their wordy little corpses in a file where you can look back on them with love -- I do -- but often, the little bits of text that we're the most proud of have no business being in the middle of the narrative. Nothing is sacred once the editing machete comes out.

This is one of the proverbs of the writing world, and one of the hardest instructions I've ever had to learn how to take. This time, we're talking about identifying your darlings, killing them mercifully, and finding a way to live with what you've done.

Let's begin.

( My thoughts are not your thoughts; my process is not your process; my ideas are not your ideas; my method is not your method. All these things are totally right for me, and may be just as totally wrong for you. So please don't stress if the things I'm saying don't apply to you -- I promise, there is no One True Way. This way for my thoughts on killing your darlings, doing it mercifully, and not turning your manuscript into a blood bath.Collapse )