Kill Your Darlings

[ar-ninetysix]

I think you should rename the post to "Kill Your Darlings (Not Just Your Characters)" or "Kill Your Darlings (Please Read)" or something else close to that. See, the phrase is originally meant as killing off characters. I'm sure lots of people might read the title and skim the post wanting to get a quick reply in, skipping the fact that you're including other ideas into that phrase.

[rmdooley]

So many darlings have been murdered it hardly bothers me anymore. I'm just a cold cynical shell of a creator, indifferent to disposing of the shining bright lights in my life

[kip]

I might if more people do that!
I’m like almost completely certain that’s not true though ?

Urban Dictionary:
Kill your darlings
“In writing, you must kill your darlings.” --William Faulkner

This literary advice refers to the dangers of an author using personal favorite elements. While these may hold special meaning for the author, they can cause readers to roll their eyes for reasons such as:

-Purple prose
-Narm
-Egregious overuse of a word or phrase
Did he seriously just use the word "egregious" up there? Dude, kill your darlings.

Though there’s more info just by googling the phrase. it’s alwyas been used to mean the same thing as far as i’m aware lol

[ar-ninetysix]

Never mind thennnn, I dunno anything lol well, either way, that seems to be how most people are taking it as

[dawgofdawgness]

Can I ask what "narm" is? I've never heard of that term before

[directorador]

what is any of that? I get overuse lacking finesse.

I read the thread. I said ok, edit. Then people were talking about killing off a character. So ok, I misunderstood the explination. So then, I posted about killing a character.

What you are calling this, is to me, editing out dream fulfillment. Or wish fulfillment, where you write stuff that you wish could happen for you.

I don't write that way. so no, i never do.

[punkarsenic]

Narm

whats that? i havent heard of it

[punkarsenic]

What you are calling this, is to me, editing out dream fulfillment. Or wish fulfillment, where you write stuff that you wish could happen for you.

i dont think thats really what killing your darlings means. it more means... "i have this story about crabs fighting poseidon, and ive had a scene in mind from the beginning where they escape a shark, but its turning out to be a total detour from the story i want to tell, so i have to cut it"

so, yeah, editing. cutting out things / passages / scenes / characters you really like, that are hindering the work

[directorador]

oh tend to do that as I write actually. idk I have an odd process. There is a song in my graphic novel, the manuscript was written with reference to superman, but I can't find use of the name prior to after the dark ages... So I have to change it and it feels like something I enjoy from the story. I actually have been considering totally rewriting the song. But I want to wait until i paint the image for the lyrics to be embedded, because I feel I will have a greater understanding on the impact of the events prior, as well as know what really works for the painting.

[DiegoPalacios]

@punkarsenic @dawgofdawgness

Here is the definition of Narm:
Narm is a moment that is supposed to be serious, but due to either over-sappiness, poor execution, excessive Melodrama, or the sheer absurdity of the situation, the drama is lost to the point of surpassing "cheesy" and becoming unintentionally funny.

Narm - TV Tropes

[dawgofdawgness]

Oh no my worst fear

[DiegoPalacios]

Most of the darlings that don`t work for my current comic are saved for other stories.

I had to redesign and rethink some characters and scenes to fit the mood of my story better.

Now i am in a dilemma. I can see some pros and cons in some darlings i have planned for the future.
So i have to figure out what would work better in the long term and which darlings are worth keeping. This includes some future characters, conflicts and plot twists.

The good thing is there is still a long time before these dilemmas must be solved. (that`s the good thing of planning the story way ahead)

[AmysGames]

Yeah, I've definitely had to cut stuff before, a lot of stuff I was quite fond of even. A few scenes, several characters. It can be rough!

That said, I feel like a lot of the time, my feelings on the matter change over time. Oftentimes I'll cut stuff and feel bad about it, only to look back on it and realize wow, the story is really better off without it. Like, sometimes chopping off that one scene you think is super cool but doesn't work that well just makes room for an even cooler scene that works way better.

The inverse happens sometimes too, where I cut stuff early because I wasn't too fond of it at the time, only to look back on it later and go man, I kind of miss it. This happens most often with characters, because I'm a clingy person who gets too attached to her characters, lol. Maybe some of them I can bring back in other stories, who knows.

...also, because I too misread the question at first, I have definitely killed off plenty of characters, lol. Including several I felt really bad about killing!

[hjfsdh2222]

I had to do it for any entire story I had worked on for 5 years. And boy was that a good decision^^ I became a much better creator as a result

[kip]

It’s slang for when a scene is super dramatic but the writing itself is pretty sub-par so the actual scene turns out to be an embarrassing mess (or at least, isn’t able to reach the intended dramatic goal)

edit; oops turns out someone already replied

[kip]

Definitly a hard place to be in.
iirc someone here mentioned keeping a document with all their killed off darlings- thar might be a good idea!
see if your story can still work well without them. then hypothetically add them back and see if they add any crucial data or if they just derail the story or kill time?

[Penni]

Kill them? No I couldn't do it. I'm far too attached

I'm not against the idea in potential later stories but at this point in the time. No

[Raven_C]

Guys, killing your darlings doesn't mean having your characters die in the story xD

It means editing them out (if they don't fit in the narrative) or re-writing them in a major way, usually before final draft. Same goes for lines, story arcs, plot points.

[Azifri]

It used to bug me a lot, but got over it after turning my personal projects into team projects, with close friends giving me honest criticism which helped me see how others would perceive my ideas.
Also helps to finish a draft of the whole story in advance, and reading it some time later. If something makes me cringe, then it goes away.

[lwflouisa]

I might answer literally just for giggles.

Generally I kill my darlings when I feel like their quest is over. Generally I've felt semi-indifferent to it, although it has began hurting more.

I base my darling I need to kill based on how likely they're to be executed in their original timeline. (I do an historical and science fiction fusion with a Gothic finish.)