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I killed my Darlings...Maybe?

 

One of the biggest pieces of writing advice came from Faulkner; Kill your darlings. With a little research I've found it was actually British journalist and author Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch. in 1914 where he lectured at Cambridge. It was published in On the Art of Writing (1916), where he originally wrote "Murder your darlings." 

Good advice? 

Eh, I think it depends on the story. Not all writing advice works everywhere. 

But in my latest novel, Threshold of Midnight, 

I killed off one of my favorite characters. 

This character came from a trip to a grocery store. Yes, I found him while waiting at the deli counter. He was talking orders and talking to customers. A nice young man. He was maybe 6 feet, brown skin and kind dark eyes. He was attentive to his customers, joking, and giving off that nice guy vibe. When I saw him, I knew who I needed in my story. I wanted someone who could appear strong and tough but really be a hero. Someone who could Save the Cat (a writing term that kind of means doing the right thing) 

So, this character turned into Willy. He has a background, he made mistakes, now he's working hard to prove that's not going to define him. 

Then the apocalypse hits. Now, he has to search for other survivors. He finds Diana, who is traveling with a child who talks to the Virgin Mary. They form a bond. 

Then he dies. 

Or does he? One of my beta readers was pretty upset he got killed off. They said, "I loved Willy. Why did he have to die?"  So, then I felt a bit guilty. Should I have saved Willy? Was this one character important in moving the story forward? 

I agonized over this for a few weeks as I edited this book. 

Then I published. 

Check it out here; Threshold of Midnight

Now I'm writing the second in the series, Threshold of Tomorrow. Did I bring Willy back? Resurrect him? 

I'm writing as fast as I can! We'll soon find out. 

Find more books on my website. 

 

 

Threshold of Midnight - First in a Series!

It's here:  Threshold of Midnight! 

Check it out of Amazon: https://amzn.to/49jdjoy

Upon escaping a bomb shelter, Diana discovers everyone has vanished, until she finds a small child who delivers messages from the Virgin Mary, causing her to question the line between belief and madness.

Would you trust a five-year-old to lead you through an apocalypse? 

Sometimes you don't know how strong you can be, until you're protecting a child who may be humanity's last chance.

Writing Breaks - Necessary?

 Finishing a book is like stepping from one world to another. 

For months, maybe years, you build a story. Create characters, plot, whole towns and backstories. 

Then (after many rewrites & editing) you're done! Baby goes out into the world either indie or looking for an agent. Or lets face it, some just go in a drawer with hopes of one day making it out into the sunlight again. 

So another book is done, edited, edited and then to the editor, then meeting with editor, then it's done, finalized. Time to either put it out as an Indie or maybe find an agent to go traditional. 

And you breathe. You come out of the writer's cave and greet the real world. Walk the dog, visit the library, go to the gym, read all those books you've put off. 

Then it's time to choose the next project. 

Write on, my fellow writers, Write on!