Kill Your Darlings 12

I wrote a blog post for this morning that made me smile.

Last night, however, as I thought about it, I started to worry. Something didn’t make sense. A thought in paragraph one didn’t match paragraph three. What was my point? What was the theme of the piece?

I wasn’t consistent.

This morning at the crack of dawn, I edited it, set it to be published this morning, then went about my routine.

I came back ten minutes later and deleted the post, even though there were sections in it that I really loved.

The whole exercise reminded me that one of the greatest things a writer can learn is to kill your darlings.

I have a rule. Whenever I think I’ve written something scathingly brilliant, I delete it. I may just put it into another section, labeled “Brilliant” temporarily. Later, after some time has elapsed, I read it again, roll my eyes, and delete it.

Writing, ultimately, isn’t about the writer. It’s about the book (or in this case, the blog post). When a writer’s ego gets in the way, you end up with endless paragraphs of description of the moon, or exposition that barely masks the writer’s political beliefs, or witticisms that make you think the writer was having fun with himself, by himself.

The first dozen times I deleted something, I knew I was cheating the world of deathless prose. Somewhere, a muse wept. It took me awhile to get over myself.

Lately? I can cut with the best of them.

How about you? If you’re a writer, can you kill your darlings? In other fields, are you ruthless about your own work?

The Fab Four – Oops Five – Books, That Is 3

At last count, I’ve read 63 books about writing, the publishing industry, and self-publishing since January, 2011. Of all those books, only these five were memorable and/or helpful. The others were a mishmash of books that either wanted to take advantage of the self-publishing revolution and had a cute title but little of substance, or were books that touted: I can do it and so can you!  – but just didn’t provide much value.

Please understand that this isn’t my first rodeo (don’t you just love that expression?). I’ve been reading about writing and writing professionally for twenty plus years. Other books might be valuable to people at different stages in their careers.

Also, I self-published my backlist in early 2009, so I learned by on the job training. Lots of stuff that’s new to other people isn’t new to me.

Your mileage, as they say, will vary.

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Dean Wesley Smith

Think Like a Publisher

Great book if you’re thinking of going into self-publishing.

~~~~~

Jessica Page Morrell

Thanks, But This Isn’t For Us

One of the best books I’ve ever read about the craft of writing.

~~~~~

Katherine Kristine Rusch

The Freelancer’s Survival Guide

I think Rusch is brilliant in her understanding of the publishing industry. Subscribe to her blog, especially on Thursdays when she does Business Rusch. So far, I’ve agreed with everything she’s said.

http://kriswrites.com/2012/02/23/the-business-rusch-competition/

~~~~~

Bob Mayer

Write it Forward – From Writer to Successful Author

I really enjoy Bob’s blog, too.

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/

I’m currently reading his The Shelfless Book, so I don’t have an opinion on it. I do think, however, that some people try to make the formatting and conversion process of an ebook much harder than it really is.

~~~~~

David Gaughran

Let’s Get Digital: How to Self-Publish, And Why You should

Lots of common sense advice that you could figure out on your own about self-publishing, but David does the heavy lifting.

The Dog Didn’t Eat My Homework 14

It struck me the other day that I read at least one book about writing every week. Right now, on my Kindle, I’m reading two books about writing, one written by an editor. The other is written by a publisher who is heavily into independent publishing.

I’m getting oodles out of both.

I consider reading about writing, the business and the craft of it, as homework. I’ve never outgrown the need to learn.

Over the course of the years, I’ve learned so much about writing. Some of it might not show and be more of the behind the scenes stuff, like plotting. Some of it definitely shows, such as my penchant for full sentences. Phrases drive me nuts. So do one word paragraphs.

Yes.

Do both.

Sparingly.

Another thing I’ve stopped doing is a heckuvalot of exposition. In my early books, I went on and on and on. Now, I try to have as much movement and dialogue in a book because exposition just bores me when I’m reading it.

I think I’ll always have something to learn, some way to change and grow. If you don’t grow, you curl up and die. Or worse, as a writer, you get stagnant.

Do you study in your field? Or do you try to learn something new each week?