It is a common phrase said to writers, to ‘Kill Your Darlings’. Basically what it means is that sometimes a writer writes something that they just love. A character, a scene, a line that is just amazing. Only that thing either doesn’t improve the story, or in some cases, drags it down. Only the writer doesn’t want to get rid of it because it’s just so cool. This makes it hard to admit to yourself that you need to get rid of it.
I had (at least) one such darling in The Storyteller. Tabitha is going into the Huntsman’s castle to look for the sword. In the first version of the story it read like this:
Tabitha marched toward the castle doors. They opened easily at her touch. She did not let herself hesitate on entering the magical castle. The doors thudded shut behind her.
“Should we have warned him about the demons?” the Man in Black asked, glancing at the Wizard.
“He didn’t ask.”
I even got positive feedback from early readers about those last two lines. And I loved them. And those darlings stuck around until Draft 9 when I finally admitted to myself (because I knew before that, but I was clinging to those lines) that for the rest of the book the narrator sticks right on top of Tabitha, and having any narration when Tabitha is not in the room just doesn’t work. On top of that, while it’s a nice sting, that information is not necessary. Tabitha runs into a demon in the next scene.
It still hurt to delete those words though.
