When I’m writing and/or editing (I know, I’m not supposed to be doing those two things at once, but I never did like following directions), it can be difficult to cut out that less-than-perfect sentence, paragraph, or quip. I’d like to share my solution for this unique form of separation anxiety. I have a “Kill Your Darlings” document.

Yes, I stole this line from Stephen King.

“Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.”

Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

It’s excellent advice, but not always easy. That’s why I created a document that contains all the little tidbits of literary excellence that I decide to cut from my manuscript. I cut it, and then I copy it into the KYD doc. Knowing that it is still there for me to retrieve later if I change my mind makes it easier to edit. I include a line number or scene number to remind me where it was originally placed in the manuscript.

Here’s the scary part: my manuscript is currently at 61169 words, and my Kill Your Darlings doc is 5911 words. That’s a lot of darlings.