Monday Coffee -- Why Haven't You Killed Your Darlings Yet?

Picture 1: Spinach and lettuce all jumbled together.

You've probably heard it over a hundred times: Kill your darlings. It's practically beat over every new writer's head. You have to kill your darlings for your story to survive. I'm not going to tell you anything new today, but I'm going to tell you why these darlings must be killed.

I learned an important writing lesson from my garden. There are several things you grow that grow best with lots of similar plants around it. Kale, spinach, lettuce and carrots (to name a few) are all great when grown with other plants around them!

Picture 2: Thinning out these plants from
Picture 1 will allow them to thrive!

After a few weeks it becomes an apocalyptic situation. Spinach starts attacking spinach. Brother attacks brother. Okay, no, what happens is they run low on resources so they continue sharing them. Having to share these resources the plants stay small.

A couple years ago, when I first started growing my plants from seed, I found out that I need to thin them out so they can grow. I grew them from seed. I gave them life. AND NOW I'M BEING TOLD TO KILL MY LITTLE DARLINGS? I was crushed. Yes I know they are plants, but it takes a long time to grow these things. SO MUCH TIME AND EFFORT!

Picture 3: The middle two plants (under the big plant from
Picture 4) never got big because they stayed too close
together and too close to that big plant!

Much to my dismay, I killed my darlings. Of course I tried to save as many of my darlings as humanly possible. I put them in little pots hoping to find a place for them in the garden. I have a fairly large garden (you are just seeing pictures from my small garden here) but the space is still finite! I was able to give some away to a friend, but it still wasn't enough. In the end I had to let my precious little darlings die.

It isn't a sad story. In the end I had the best kale and lettuce crop I've ever had! All summer long I was able to go to the garden to get a range of salad greens and I didn't have to worry about having to buy any of these things all summer. We actually weren't able to eat it all, so I've changed what I put in the garden this year.

Picture 4: This plant has grown this size because it
 grew strong with other seedlings around it and then it's
mates were killed violently so it could grow.
(Same plant as Picture 3.)

Unfortunately I have come to the conclusion that you also have to kill your writing darlings. Maybe your darling is a beautifully descriptive paragraph, or maybe it's a character that you love. Once you've established that these darlings are of no use to your story then get rid of them! You may give them to another story, or find another place for them in your current story (or series). I'll say it again: IF YOUR DARLINGS AREN'T HELPING YOUR STORY THEN KILL THEM FROM THE STORY.

Though, never kill them from your mind. Put them in their own special file and maybe one day they'll grow into their own little garden. Or maybe they'll die in that file. Either way your story will be allowed to flourish!