Kill Your Darlings
62Okay, this is the craziest advice I was ever given as a writer--it's also something that passes through my mine every time I write or edit.
Here is the basic idea--when you write, you have these moments where you read something over again. A big dumb grin comes over your face and you lean back and go, "I am goooood."
The very first thing you should do after that is DELETE IT. I know, it sounds cruel, doen't it? But this is your baby. Your darling. And that makes it naturally sentimental. You want to protect it, and it becomes the weakest link because you prevent yourself from critiquing it and examining it.
So kill it. It's a crutch and you don't need it. Brilliant writing is so empirical, so stylized and yet so basic. And your darlings are the frilly curtains of the literary world--tear them down, burn them, and rejoice in the freedom of it.
If you can kill your darlings, there's nothing you can't do.
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Hey steph--
Yeah it's tough, but I'm learning! I keep trying to sneak them in but inevitably they have to come out!
I've heard the phrase throughout journalism school, but it meant something slighty different. They would say, "Don't be afraid to kill your darlings," but it meant certain fluff n filler sentences, etc. Not necessarily the whole thing. But it's powerful either way! lol
It is a Truman Capote quote. According to Stephen King, those words make reference to cutting extraneous words from your manuscript....very valuable advice, especially for someone like me who tends to be too wordy.
Oh wow, I never realized it was a quote! Thanks Shirley!
You're welcome!
Truman Capote is an interesting read, by the way. He's touted as being a brilliant writer. I don't know about that, but he certainly is thorough and detailed, and he injects a lot of emotion into his work. Or did, he's dead now, of course.
Absolutely! Capote is one of the most interesting figures in American Lit in my opinion--In Cold Blood, in terms of the way it was researched, if not the writing itself, is one of the best reads out there. Compound that with his friendship with Harper Lee (and rumors that he might have at least co-penned--if not been even more responsible for--To Kill A Mockingbird) and you have a fascinating literary figure.
stephhicks68 Level 7 Commenter 4 years ago
Whoa. Never heard that before. Powerful stuff. (I can't do it, can you??)