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,
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.
