Recently, an esteemed correspondent of mine pointed out that the ‘Murder Your Darlings’ quote that I always attribute to F Scott Fitzgerald (see article here) was actually a phrase used by William Faulkner in his Nobel Prize speech. I wondered at this and decided to do an Internet search.

To my surprise, the phrase is originally attributed to Arthur Quiller Couch, and used subsequently by authors from Virginia Woolf to Stephen King. Whatever its actual source, perhaps the most important thing here is that the concept of ‘murdering your darlings’ is one that strikes a real chord with writers. Always has, always will.

It’s funny, I’ve had new writers send me (sometimes quite angry!) emails - appalled by the suggestion that they cut out all the good bits in their writing, complaining that would leave nothing left, etc., or that the process would somehow detract from their enjoyment of writing. I think this attitude misses the point somewhat. You see, it’s not the ‘good bits’ you’re taking out, it’s only the bits that don’t help the writing - and they are very often the same bits you are most proud of - some clever turn of phrase or simile or metaphor, whatever.

Because, basically, it’s not ‘clever’ to try and ‘look clever’ in your writing - it actually makes you look amateurish and self indulgent.

Your primary job as a writer is to transfer strong images and good ideas from your head into the mind of another person - a kind of telepathy if you will. The words are the medium you use but in a sense, they are also the barrier that can limit this process.

So the next time you’re reading through your material, it’s wise to remember that the truly great writer is the one who will sacrifice any and all of their words if the point, the image, or the story, suffers.

The bad writer is the one who leaves in all those long, pointless descriptions, their ‘academic’ literary references (that nobody gets!) and insists on telling instead of showing. If you want to write like this, you may get grants from your local state council to develop your work, but I guarantee you won’t sell many books!

Remember the old adage: If in doubt, leave it out!