MishaI heard this term before I became a writer and it stuck with me because it’s so dark. “Kill your babies?” I remembered grimacing when my writer friend said it. But once she explained the concept, it wasn’t as morbid as it sounds.
As artists, we often fall in love with our own little quirky creations. We might express our deepest selves in such a satisfying way that we just want to keep that thing that, in our eyes, shines like whimsical starlight. But what if that beautiful twinkle isn’t relevant to the story?
This happens to me a lot in dialogue. I will have a character make a funny joke, then later I might decide the character isn’t all that chatty, so it wouldn’t be like him to make a joke to someone he just met. And that’s when it happens. My baby, my quirky little dialogue gem doesn’t make sense anymore. Initially, I’ll write and rewrite around it, but eventually the inevitable reality must be accepted. I take out that knife… and… you guessed it. I cut the detail (or the sentence or even the whole chapter) out.
And suddenly I’m free! That sweet little baby is gone, and my story makes sense again. To be honest, I rarely miss the dead baby.
What babies are you holding onto?
Sharon Rene
Gretchen Carlson
Michelle Kaderly Welsh
When I come up with a nice sounding sentence – even before I write the book(sometimes I even write the story around it) – I will do almost anything to make sure I can use it.