I'm working my way through Screenwriting for Neurotics by Scott Winfield Sublett, which has valuable information not only for screenwriters but for all writers. The chapters on plotting have been especially helpful, but he also says something truly wonderful about killing your "darlings."
Your darlings, they say, are those words or phrases or sentences (or paragraphs or entire scenes) that you've poured your heart and soul into and that you love more than life itself, despite the fact that they really don't add much to the story.
Sublett says:
“You might say,
'What a pity that my inspiration should go
to waste!'
But saying that is misunderstanding the nature of inspiration: it’s
not a scarce resource but rather a limitless river that flows through you.
There’s plenty more inspiration in that river, so please waste it.
Building a
table would produce sawdust and wood scraps.
Would you glue them to the top of
the table so that they don’t 'go to waste'?”
Isn't that a fantastic analogy?
No: you wouldn't build a table--carving and sanding--then heap the "unnecessary" back onto it, no matter how interesting or "beautiful" it seems.
So go ahead. Tap into your limitless river, and don't be afraid to kill those darlings. There's plenty more inspiration where that came from. In fact, you are a well of inspiration, and the more you create the more creative you'll be.
If it really bothers you, don't delete the darlings permanently. Move them to a "darlings" file. Maybe you'll be able to use them somewhere else/in some other project one day.
Be Brilliant!
~Katie~
