Being a Better Writer: Killing Your Babies · 9:21pm Jul 26th, 2021
Hello again readers! Today’s Being a Better Writer post is going to (hopefully) be a bit shorter, because I’m on the last pages of the epilogue for Starforge and I want to finish it! This draft is so close to being done I can taste the freedom!
All right, enough about Starforge. And enough italics. Yes, it’s all I’m thinking about these days, and all I’m writing about, but you guys either want to see it done, or see other content. So let’s dive into today’s BaBW post. This week, another reader request! We’re going to talk about killing your babies.
Okay, this sounds worse than it actually is. If you don’t recognize this term, we’re not actually talking about human babies. Or living ones. But they may feel very alive. Because to a writer, what story isn’t their baby?
And sometimes … that baby’s time has come.
The too-full diapers.
The late night screaming when you want to sleep.
The disgusting spitting up of food.
Yeah, um, wait.
Not those babies.
What happened to the darlings?
Or do you want to take them out before they grow up?
Okay, that's enough of that.
How do you know when to put your darling/baby down?
What are the criteria?
How does one tell the difference between laziness and problems that can't be solved?
Is it possible to avoid killing one's darlings?
Is it a lack of planning or it just happens?
I try not to kill any writing projects unless I consider it very carefully because I know it's possible to get into a habit of abandoning things if it gets too hard. Is this realistic?
Kudos on your article.
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When you know, you'll know. That's not a cop-out, that's the best answer there is.
Experience.
No to both. Getting better at writing can make it less likely for a darling to be a problem, but you'll always have to make choices.
This is true. It's a balancing act, and will be a bit different for everyone. But yes, you don't want to give up too easily.
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Thanks for the replies.