We've heard it time and again - "Kill Your Darlings!" It sounds like such a psychotic phrase. Kill my darlings? As in my babies? These sweet little things I'd give my life for?
No, no, NO! Not your human darlings. Sheesh.
So what darlings are we talking about? Your writing darlings. (Which can sometimes feel like our human babies, I know, but they're not really. Human, I mean. You know that, right?) I've discovered over the years that this phrase has several different meanings.
Killing the Darlings Everyone Loves
I think the first time I ever heard "Kill Your Darlings" was a quote from Agatha Christie and I totally thought she meant your best characters must die. I mean, she's a murder mystery writer, so it makes sense, right? I don't know if this is what she meant, but since hearing it several years ago, I've noticed how the really good, gut-wrenching stories kill off at least one character we fall in love with. Or, if you're J.K. Rowling, you kill off at least 20% of the cast, breaking our hearts.
By doing so, though, Rowling deepened our emotional investment. She made us love, she made us lose and she made us hurt. She's merciless! But in a good way because these losses strengthened our love, empathy, support and even hate - the same feelings as the characters - making us part of the story. If we can kill one of our darling characters in our books and make the reader feel it, we pull them deeper into our world, giving that immersion experience they seek from books.
Killing the Darlings the Writer Loves
These are the darlings the experts teach us to kill - the parts of our book we love so much but do nothing for the story. Whether it's a paragraph with exceptionally beautiful writing - our best ever! - or a lovely scene depicted brilliantly, we love these babies so much, we can't bear the thought of hitting the delete button. But if they do nothing for the story, we must bring ourselves to kill them. If that's a little too drastic for you faint-of-heart, you can just cut it and paste it into a standby document. Then you know it's there, in safe keeping, to visit whenever you wish. Just don't put it back!
Killing the Darlings Who Don't Belong
This third meaning just made itself clear to me while revising Genesis. I have a character who I - and my betas - absolutely adore, but he has to go. At least, his POV does. He plays an important role in the story, but his part of the narration just isn't necessary, bogging down and detracting from the true story of Genesis. As much as we all love his part of the tale, I've had to take it out. From this book, anyway. I think he'll have his own story - at least a short one - soon.
This meaning isn't just about POV, though. We often have multiple supporting characters in our first drafts that only lead to confusion in the reader, who's trying to keep track of all these names when half of them never return. Combine them. Get rid of some. No matter how much you love them, they're not helping your story. This goes for subplots, too, that relate in no way to the main plot and only clutter the story. If you love those side characters so much that you want to give them their own plot line, then do it - in a different book.
We writers pour our hearts and souls into our stories. We have lots of darlings. Can you think of other darlings we must kill to improve our stories? Do you have any you've had to kill that hurt more than others? Do you keep your little darlings in a back-up file and go back and read them because they make you happy? Or is that just me?
Showing posts with label team writer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label team writer. Show all posts
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Team Writer FOR THE WIN!
The debate between indie and traditional (trad) publishing has heated recently and it's created a lot of animosity that I just don't understand. I feel like a divide has been growing - Team Indie vs. Team Trad. And before I delve into this, I feel the need to say that just because I'm happy to be Indie and I do things like Indie Authors Relief Fund, doesn't mean that I'm all "GO TEAM INDIE!" That I think every writer should be indie and you're stupid for not doing it my way.
I do support my fellow indies. I think it's a brave, progressive and sometimes lonely route to publication. So I cheer on those of us who do it.
But I don't think it's the only way. Just as I obviously don't think trad is the only way. The world has given us many opportunities and paths to take to get our books into readers' hands. And that's the goal for all of us, right?
With success stories of indie authors such as Amanda Hocking, unpublished writers recently seem to feel the need to justify why they don't want to go indie. Very opposite what it was like when I decided over a year ago - when writers who did go indie were the ones feeling the need to justify. People on both paths can become quite defensive in justifying their reasons.
Both roads are full of pot holes and detours that are frustrating, but the writer has good reasons for fighting their way through. Unfortunately, sometimes their points are made by emphasizing how much worse that other road is. Which only sparks angry retorts by some who chose that other road because they feel the need to defend themselves. Both sides feel like they're being personally attacked. Thus, we have this great divide.
Then there are those who decide to publish a book independently because, for whatever reason the universe had at the time, it didn't sell traditionally, and the author feels like they gave up...or gave in. That by going indie, even if just with one book, means they're admitting failure. Or, at least, defeat. I've had these same feelings on occasion. But why should we feel down?
A trad book sale requires so many things to come together perfectly that the odds just aren't in the writer's favor. But that doesn't mean it's a bad book, bad writing or a bad author. And it doesn't mean that readers don't want to read it. So what is wrong with getting that book out there for readers to enjoy? It's better than a good story sitting in the dark corners of a hard drive.
We're at an exciting point in time where writers are empowered to choose. And choosing one way doesn't mean we can't ever go the other way. Several long-time authors who have been trad published for years, even decades, are going indie. And more and more indie authors are getting trad contracts. The breaking news this week is that Amanda Hocking has a reported $2 million deal with St. Martin's Press. Nice job, Amanda!
She discusses here a little about why she would even consider going trad when she's doing so well as an indie. She has excellent reasons. Her story - as well as some of her points in that blog post - support what I said back in July in a guest post here. That writers now have the opportunity to reach readers directly and build a fan-base...and that trad publishers will eventually take notice.
In fact, Amanda may be the case-in-point (or at least the poster girl that she didn't set out to be but nevertheless is) that this route just may be the best for everyone in the industry: writers indie-publish and start a following and then publishers can grow that fan-base exponentially. Readers get to be the gatekeepers - the ones who decide which books and authors they want to read. Which is really a great thing for everyone.
But what I like most about Amanda's post is her point that we shouldn't be taking sides. That we should all be TEAM WRITER. Because we're all reaching for the same goal - to see our books being read. The journey to achieve that goal is different for everyone and we shouldn't be criticizing others for the routes they take. We should be supporting them, cheering them on, helping each other along the way. Because each new path forged is one more way for others to follow. Another choice. Another way to empower the writer.
It's time to stop criticizing each other and ourselves for whichever path we take. It's time to embrace the amazing possibilities before us. It's time to stop throwing rocks and insults at the person on that parallel road to publication and start throwing chocolate and woo-hoo's at them. We're all on the same team!
I do support my fellow indies. I think it's a brave, progressive and sometimes lonely route to publication. So I cheer on those of us who do it.
But I don't think it's the only way. Just as I obviously don't think trad is the only way. The world has given us many opportunities and paths to take to get our books into readers' hands. And that's the goal for all of us, right?
With success stories of indie authors such as Amanda Hocking, unpublished writers recently seem to feel the need to justify why they don't want to go indie. Very opposite what it was like when I decided over a year ago - when writers who did go indie were the ones feeling the need to justify. People on both paths can become quite defensive in justifying their reasons.
Both roads are full of pot holes and detours that are frustrating, but the writer has good reasons for fighting their way through. Unfortunately, sometimes their points are made by emphasizing how much worse that other road is. Which only sparks angry retorts by some who chose that other road because they feel the need to defend themselves. Both sides feel like they're being personally attacked. Thus, we have this great divide.
Then there are those who decide to publish a book independently because, for whatever reason the universe had at the time, it didn't sell traditionally, and the author feels like they gave up...or gave in. That by going indie, even if just with one book, means they're admitting failure. Or, at least, defeat. I've had these same feelings on occasion. But why should we feel down?
A trad book sale requires so many things to come together perfectly that the odds just aren't in the writer's favor. But that doesn't mean it's a bad book, bad writing or a bad author. And it doesn't mean that readers don't want to read it. So what is wrong with getting that book out there for readers to enjoy? It's better than a good story sitting in the dark corners of a hard drive.
We're at an exciting point in time where writers are empowered to choose. And choosing one way doesn't mean we can't ever go the other way. Several long-time authors who have been trad published for years, even decades, are going indie. And more and more indie authors are getting trad contracts. The breaking news this week is that Amanda Hocking has a reported $2 million deal with St. Martin's Press. Nice job, Amanda!
She discusses here a little about why she would even consider going trad when she's doing so well as an indie. She has excellent reasons. Her story - as well as some of her points in that blog post - support what I said back in July in a guest post here. That writers now have the opportunity to reach readers directly and build a fan-base...and that trad publishers will eventually take notice.
In fact, Amanda may be the case-in-point (or at least the poster girl that she didn't set out to be but nevertheless is) that this route just may be the best for everyone in the industry: writers indie-publish and start a following and then publishers can grow that fan-base exponentially. Readers get to be the gatekeepers - the ones who decide which books and authors they want to read. Which is really a great thing for everyone.
But what I like most about Amanda's post is her point that we shouldn't be taking sides. That we should all be TEAM WRITER. Because we're all reaching for the same goal - to see our books being read. The journey to achieve that goal is different for everyone and we shouldn't be criticizing others for the routes they take. We should be supporting them, cheering them on, helping each other along the way. Because each new path forged is one more way for others to follow. Another choice. Another way to empower the writer.
It's time to stop criticizing each other and ourselves for whichever path we take. It's time to embrace the amazing possibilities before us. It's time to stop throwing rocks and insults at the person on that parallel road to publication and start throwing chocolate and woo-hoo's at them. We're all on the same team!
TEAM WRITER FOR THE WIN!!!
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