We have all heard the advice murder your darlings.
It’s the idea of editing out the clever sentences you are in love with even when they do nothing for the reader or nothing to service the writing.
Murder your darlings is the advice that editors give. We’ve become obsessed with pruning though and forgot about planting.
If murder your darlings is the mantra of editors, then what is the mantra of the writer?
The opposite of murdering those words is birthing them in the first place.
We first have to give oxygen to our weirdest, most unique ideas in the first place. Write about that idea you had in the shower. Write about that strange thought that popped into your mind while on your daily walk. Write about any of those wild things that pop up again and again.
We must forget about editing for clarity.
Instead, we need to write with abandon.
It’s ok to sometimes be self-indulgent with our writing.
Today is not the day to murder your darlings.
It’s the day to bring them to life in the first place.
Rich
