my darlings

"I cannot stress this enough," my professor said. Thin and wirey, with a crest of wild grey hair, she could command our attention with a lifted eyebrow or a narrow-eyed glance. "This is the most important thing you will ever learn." She dropped her voice low.

We leaned in close. This, The Secret of Writing, was what we were all here to learn.

"You must be ruthless and 'murder your darlings.'" She'd said the last words so deliciously, as if savoring every syllable, then peeled her lips back into a grin.

I thought she was crazy then. Now I'm beginning to realize how right she was. Her words aren't unique - she was quoting some famous author. Since that time I've come across those words again. When writing, we become so in love with our prose, a well crafted scene or a clever turn of words, that we fail to stay true to the bigger picture of the story. I've caught myself doing this over and over again as I rewrite my novel. I frequently find myself hemming and hawing - but, but, I love this scene, where the character does this, and it's just perfect! Then I realize it breaks the pace, it doesn't quite fit, the character's actions don't really make sense in the greater scheme of things.

I can't quite get myself to delete it, so I cheat. I make a copy of it and stick it in a folder. I can always go back to it, I tell myself. I can always copy and paste the scene or phrase in later, when it might be appropriate. I've discovered I seldom do so, however, almost always prefering the revision to the original.

Another excellent piece of writing advice handed down to me from one of my favorite editors, from his editor before him. It's the same advice a mother would give to her daughter before her big debut: put on all your jewelry, then start removing them, one by one. when you think you have just the right amount of jewelry, go back to the mirror, take a good long look, and remove one more piece.

I admit, I lay description, analogy, and metaphor on thick. Probably too much. I'd like to tone it down, so that's what I'm working on now, going through my prose, picking out the stuff that works, the stuff that doesn't, and the stuff that even though it does, is just too much. It's painful, because ultimately, writing is such a display of ego. And as my characters develop and adopt egos of their own, I discover my professor wasn't exaggerating - it really is like murder.