Overheard a writer say 'kill your darlings' at a coffee shop and it messed with my head

I was sitting in a local cafe last Tuesday working on my fantasy novel and this older guy at the next table was giving feedback to a younger writer. He said something like 'if you didn't smile while writing that sentence, cut it out completely, even if it's your favorite part.' That hit me hard because I have a whole chapter about a dragon that I love but it does nothing for the plot. I've been clinging to it for 3 months but he's probably right that it's just padding. Has anyone else had to chop something they really liked for the good of the story?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_faith1d ago

Sucked it up and deleted a whole subplot about a magical forest that had nothing to do with anything. I spent weeks on it and thought it was the best thing I ever wrote. But once it was gone the main story moved way faster and made way more sense. Sometimes you gotta trust the process even when it hurts. Did you save your dragon chapter somewhere or did you just delete it completely?

reese_taylor6923h ago

Honestly @the_faith same here, I trashed a whole character arc I was obsessed with and it made everything click.