Today, I have a short (but ever-important) admonition for you.
You ready? You should prepare a pen and plan to write this down. Or, at least, you should commit these words to memory and turn them into a mantra that you roll over and over and over in your head until it becomes second nature to think about this no matter what you are doing...
Here we go.
Admonition:
Kill your darlings.
Yup. That's it.
I came across this quote several years ago while reading Stephen King's On Writing for the first time, but the quote was birthed by William Faulkner. What it means (in the simplest paraphrase possible) is...
There are certain items in any manuscript - whether these items are clever turns of phrase, insightful thoughts, or sentences that are just really freaking good - that actually weaken the story. This can be because they staunch the flow of the narrative, or because they are confusing, or even because they just plain don't fit. Whatever the case, each manuscript contains plenty of Darlings...and sometimes, it's difficult to find them...and usually, it's even more difficult to highlight them and press your pinky down on the Delete key.
But you know what? It's worth it.
Do you have a couple minutes you can spend with me? If you do, I'll tell you a story...
A year ago (of course, this was when I still had an agent), my agent suggested a number of changes to The Great Lenore. Many of these were minor changes, but some of them were major. In fact, one of the suggestions she made was that I remove a particular character from the story entirely.
At first, I scoffed at this suggestion - How could I remove this character? She was important to the story!
But...you know what? I looked at everything more closely. And I realized that this particular character was not important to the story. In fact, she served no purpose whatsoever!
You see, in the months leading up to the start of the first draft of The Great Lenore, I spent piles of hours getting to know all the characters, their backgrounds, their tendencies, their stories, etc. As the writing began, however, this particular character's role in the story became more and more minimized, until - without my ever realizing it - she had become inessential to the story. Nay, she had become a distraction to the reader!
Talk about killing darlings - I killed an entire character!
After my agent and I parted ways and I had 28 new agents request my manuscript, a number of these agents came back to me after reading the manuscript and said the same thing: "This is a tremendous premise, and it's excellent writing, but there are a few elements in the story I would consider changing..." Each of them listed the particulars they would consider changing and told me to send them the manuscript again if I took their advice. Only one problem, though: Many of the agents suggested changes that directly conflicted with what other agents had suggested.
What did I do?
I took all the advice given to me, grouped it together, and began to look for common threads in the suggestions they had made; sure, they were all giving me different suggestions on the surface, but what was the root of their suggestions? What could I adjust in order to alter the feel these agents - and, therefore, future readers - would have while reading the novel?
By the time I made these changes, my communication with Atticus Books had commenced. Shortly thereafter, they offered me a publishing deal, and yesterday - after a couple months of waiting - I received the edited version of my manuscript.
The email from my publisher said this: "On the whole, it's a light edit and you should be applauded for submitting such a clean, organized manuscript."
Why was he able to say that?
Because I spent two years ruthlessly editing...taking advice...killing my darlings.
And you know what? In reading over the edited version, there were still things that were removed that caused me to think, "Wait - I liked that! That was good writing. Why did she take it out!" This thought was inevitably followed by, "Oh, wow. It actually reads a lot better with that sentence (section, phrase, etc.) removed."
Learn to kill your darlings, Dear Writers.
The more darlings you kill...the fewer someone else will have to kill for you.
Moldy old post for you to read,
in case you're in a knowledge-chasing mood...
and have another five minutes on your hands:
Write What Drives You
Click on Lenore to take a 6-page sample out for a spin.
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Posts
for my last WIP i wrote a prologue even though i knew i shouldn't, but it was leaping off point for me to start the novel. Once done, the prologue was wonderful, i loved it, my beta's loved it. And i cut every last word.
ReplyDeleteSarah - Not to pretend that one can discern another's storytelling chops by their comment on a blog, but...if I were to judge your storytelling chops based on your comment on a blog, I would hop on your bandwagon! I loved the delayed (and bare-knuckled) revelation at the end: "And I cut every last word."
ReplyDeleteIn the process of doing that right now! Going through my ms and ruthlessly murdering :)
ReplyDeleteI can't even tell you how much I've cut, and I still have 4 chapters to write before this darn thing is finished. As you said, sometimes it is difficult, like when I cut an entire character who, although I loved the way her parts were written, left me feeling like one of the themes was approaching "overkill." And at the time, I hated axing an entire chapter (I've deleted chapter 1 three times now) but the current product is so much better (and more appropriate). Sometimes it just takes a few attempts to get it right.
ReplyDeleteThen there was the mc's sister, who served no purpose whatsoever. She was easy to kill off. In total, I've actually knocked ten people out of the novel. I never liked big crowds.
Roberta - Awesome! There will be beautiful blood spilled, and your ms will be all the stronger for it!
ReplyDeletePaul - It's one great things about being a writer: The ability to "play God" and kill off the characters you don't want around.
Yes, indeedy! Well said!
ReplyDeleteIt's older than Faulkner.
ReplyDelete"Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it – whole-heartedly – and delete it before sending your manuscripts to press. Murder your darlings." Arthur Quiller-Couch
Mary - I had no clue that Arthur Quiller-Couch was credited with that quote as well. I did know there was some debate as to where the quote originated from, as it has been attributed to Mark Twain as well (also, of course, pre-Faulkner; and, in fact, Pre-Q). I figured just pick one and run with it. Thanks for the history lesson!
ReplyDelete