Kill Your Darlings Site

A "darling" is any element of your work that you keep out of vanity rather than necessity. Common examples include: Killing Your Darlings - A Writer's Journey

"Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it—whole-heartedly—and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings." Kill Your Darlings

The Art of Letting Go: A Guide to "Kill Your Darlings" "Kill your darlings" is one of the most famous pieces of writing advice in history, serving as a reminder that the best editing often requires the most painful sacrifices. To "kill a darling" means to remove elements—sentences, characters, or entire subplots—that you are personally attached to but that ultimately do not serve the story’s greater purpose. The Origins of the Advice A "darling" is any element of your work

While frequently attributed to William Faulkner or Stephen King, the phrase originated with in his 1916 book, On the Art of Writing . Quiller-Couch famously wrote: To "kill a darling" means to remove elements—sentences,

Faulkner later popularized a variation, advising writers to "kill all your darlings" to suppress the natural affection that leads to indulgent, flowery prose. What Qualifies as a "Darling"?