If someone says a phrase/paragraph/chapter/sentence didn't work for them, and in response you want to cry/scream/shout/throw something, it's a good bet they tripped over one of your darlings. However, when our written darlings are critiqued, we as writers tend to feel like we've been stabbed. The goal is to show what did and did not work it's not a statement of personal worth. When sane and healthy writers critique one another, they do it to help. If you don't, there's no better time to find one we are not meant to write in a vacuum.Ĭritique is never personal. Note: this advice builds on the foundation that you already have something of a writing community, even if it's just a couple of people who beta-read for you. The purpose of writing isn't just for the writer it's for the reader, too, and so when we disregard the reader's needs for the sake of our own, we do the reader a great disservice. The problem begins when they don't serve the reader.įaulkner was right. We love them, to the point that we almost don't care if those bits are clear to readers or not. What Is a “Darling” and Why Are They Dangerous?ĭarlings, in writing, are those words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and even chapters that we are often most proud of. The tricky thing is that our own writing has “darlings,” too, and when we love them that fondly, we lose all sense of objectivity. The word “darling” has to do with endearment and affection it's applied to something beloved to you. We love the way these lines are worded, and we love the way they feel. There had been rather more than seven of them so far, and rain hadn’t been invented yet. It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Just those words bring an entire world back to your memory. Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. Something that gets your heart racing, your neurons sparking, your lips smiling. It'll be something you probably have memorized, or know well enough that you recognize even partial references. In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit.Īll happy families are alike each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Quick: what's a favorite line from a book you've read? Well, at least now we know we're talking about writing not homicide. “In writing, you must kill all your darlings.” This will help: Stephen King was actually quoting William Faulkner, who said: Given that Stephen King writes horror, this might be a little misleading without context. “ill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.” For those of us who've been in the writing biz a while, there is a quote by Stephen King we've all seen a thousand times (and if you're new to writing, fear not: you'll see this quote a thousand times, too).
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