I always say: “kill your darlings”.

That awesome line, that great mechanic, that fantastic character or storyline that you just have to include because it’s just that great. You know it’s great. You feel it’s great. Somehow nobody else does.

Kill your darlings. That’s the way to make a design tighter, faster and tenser. Kill your darlings. It’s the way to make a story flow better, suck the reader in more, sell. Kill your darlings.

Well, I’ve got a confession to make: I couldn’t do it. (more…)