You may be thinking, “Not another killing your darlings post!” Wait. Just wait. I want to talk about resurrecting your darlings. Using dark magic (necromancy) or brilliant flashes of insight, technology, and lightning (Victor Frankenstein) to spark life into forgotten and dead texts. So grab a shovel, some mad scientist goggles, and let’s get to work.
To resurrect your darlings, you must first have killed them. I’m sure it was painful. No one likes to take a knife and cut away a piece of their creation. But let’s face it, if it wasn’t doing work (moving your story along) it was little more than a beautifully written parasite sucking away the readers enjoyment.
If you are unfamiliar with the concept of, “Killing your darlings,” then here (an article on the origins of the term), here (an article from author Melissa Donovan about understanding the term), and here (a podcast from Writing Excuses discussing the concept) are some places to check out.
Now for the weird science and dark magic.
I really enjoy the idea of killing your darlings and tossing them into pickle jars full of formaldehyde. The Frankenstein monster, after all, was made up of bits and pieces of people. Despite where those people came from, they were certainly loved at some point. Much like your own discarded creations.
With that being said, don’t put you fallen darlings on boats and push them out into the river only to set them ablaze with flaming arrows (backspace them out of existence). Cut them out and paste them somewhere else. Have a graveyard document full of them. Then, when you get bored, try stitching them all together and blasting the manuscript with creative lightning. Who knows what may spring to life.
Another concept I really like, is using some dark magic to resurrect those darlings and have them serve you from their afterlife. I remember when I was a kid and DVDs just starting coming out. Suddenly deleted scenes were available to watch. Holy smokes it was glorious! Those scenes didn’t make the cut for the final movie, but hey, they lived on afterward.
Your resurrected zombie darlings can do the same work for you. Use them as teasers on your author blog, newsletters, or other social media avenues. My friend M.L.S. Weech (author and necromancer) did just that with one of the removed scenes from his book Caught. You can check that out here. I know he also sends this information out to his hundreds of newsletter subscribers and has told me he receives positive responses.
Sometimes your manuscript may need a transplant here and there to improve function. Your fallen darlings are the unwitting donors. Once killed, you can use them as beats later on. Those two paragraphs of tantalizing description that destroyed the flow of the story, they can be broken down and sprinkled in later on. This is yet another form of resurrecting a darling.
By learning how to re-purpose dead things, we more easily learn how to take their lives. Put another way, if you know you can use your darling for something else, it’s going to be much easier for you to simply let go and do what needs to be done.
Goofy metaphors aside, it’s hard to suggest to a client/friend to remove a section of their manuscript. Even if the section is degrading the whole of their work. It’s harder still when the section is well-written. It becomes easier to suggest when you can offer insights as to what they could do with the removed pieces. Minus the macabre frills, the suggestions above are a few ways they can accomplish this feat.
That’s it for today. Have you found nefarious ways of re-purposing your darlings? What kind of weird science have you used? I’d love to hear about it. Until tomorrow, keep reading, keep writing, and as always – stay sharp!
Thanks for connecting the link. Another thing g to consider is a book that doesn’t work being repurposed into many books that do work. I had to delete a character from my third or fourth book. That character was well developed, but she was buried in an already enormous cast. So I pulled he from the story. She’ll now have her own book in that same world. The possibilities are endless.
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More solid tips from a great author and resurrector of darlings. It make sense when you have that much content created that you would use it for something else. Thanks for stopping by and posting!
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I’m still too new at writing, my back catalogue is more in the vein of the academic drivel designed to please liberally dogmatic professors. That said, it IS good advice and I will endeavor to use it down the line. As for cut scenes, why not incorporate them into short stories set in the universe it was cut from? Then you can use the story as a sales magnet for your readers!!!
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That’s another great way to reanimate the fallen darlings. Toss them into a short story and put them through the paces. I like it.
Thanks for swinging in today. Looking forward to seeing Fortress Beta City – you can mark me down as one person who is buying your book for sure.
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Thanks, I can’t wait to see it finally published either!!!
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Great one again, QE! Especially as I have just gone through my whole novel and have some ‘darlings’ to resurrect. I hope I can find a good place in the book again for them. And if not, perhaps in a preview/teaser 😊.
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Thanks for the kind words! I hope you are successful in saving those darlings from the abyss. I love the idea of giving your readers a sneak peak into what could have been. Good luck and thanks for stopping in!
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For some reason, this post made me think of Inuyasha and the priestess. Hmm now I want to watch some anime. Haven’t done that in ages.
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Hah! Anime is one of my new writing spacers (things to do in-between tasks). Had a friend recommend some shows and I have been slowly becoming more and more hooked. There are some incredibly complex story structures within anime – I was pleasantly surprised.
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Which ones have you seen so far?
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Honestly, I’m just getting started and am an action junkie – so I have watched The Attack on Titan, and have been rolling through the Naruto series. I’m looking forward to expanding into different veins once I get through Naruto. Do you have any recommendations for when I get through Naruto?
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The world is still beautiful, Inuyasha, Rayearth, Escaflowne, cowboy bepop. Classics must watch
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I will add those to my lineup for sure! Thanks.
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Start with cowboy bepop
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Will do!
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Here’s the intro – http://youtu.be/Aw3fN3OPk3A
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I’m no novelist, but very interesting post nonetheless. And I happen to love necromancy! 😜
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The dark arts appeal to many! Glad you had fun reading my rantings.
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