William Faulkner has famously said “Kill your darlings” when it comes to writing. This means, of course, to be ruthless with the delete key. Writers can sometimes fall in love with words, scenes, characters, turns of phrase. But if they don’t serve the story, you must slaughter them.
To wit – I am about to delete 11,380 words from my current manuscript as I embark on the Great Revision of September 2010. This will be the first act of literary murder I commit while working with my current Little, Brown editor on the sequel to THE MOCKINGBIRDS. So here goes….
Deleted!
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5 Comments
To quote a great editor I once knew… “I hate words.”
You shouldn’t kill your darlings yourself, you should make them compete for their survival…like The Hunger Games. Now that would be an interesting way to edit.
I’ve heard a LOT of different takes on the “kill your darlings,” Daisy. I have yet to REALLY get to that stage, and I’m sure it will be difficult.
But I hope your story stays strong! Good luck!
Oh, how painful. But now the hard parts over.
You gotta do what you gotta do!
Also this is totally what chocolate was made for.
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