Murdering Darlings
HI gang,
Wow! Thanks so much for all of your incredibly kind words about the deleted scenes! That makes me feel good to know that you guys even like the leftovers!
A lot of you have asked to see the rest of that scene, but I probably won't post it because it involves a CoveOps class assignment that I would really like to reuse in a future book, so...sorry...that one has got to stay in the vault, I'm afraid.
Others of you have asked why scenes get cut at all. Well, this is actually a pretty complicated question to answer.
The short answer is that you should only put the scenes in that serve the purpose of the BOOK.
In the trade, we call this "murdering your darlings."
I have no idea who coined the phrase "murder your darlings", but I love it because it sums up the feeling of looking at a character... a line... a piece of dialogue... a description... a subplot... SOMETHING that you just LOVE...
But it doesn't work.
And so you have to kill it.
That's what happened with the scene I posted yesterday. I love Cammie and Zach squaring off in that alley. I love the thought of how, last fall, Cammie saw the clean, fresh, pretty side of Roseville and this spring she's seeing the place where they keep their garbage. I like A LOT about that scene...
But it doesn't advance the overall plot. It takes us in a tangent away from the center of the story and, therefore, it had to go.
I think that an author's job is as much about what you leave off the page as it is about what you put on it.
But maybe that's just me.
later gators,
Ally
Wow! Thanks so much for all of your incredibly kind words about the deleted scenes! That makes me feel good to know that you guys even like the leftovers!
A lot of you have asked to see the rest of that scene, but I probably won't post it because it involves a CoveOps class assignment that I would really like to reuse in a future book, so...sorry...that one has got to stay in the vault, I'm afraid.
Others of you have asked why scenes get cut at all. Well, this is actually a pretty complicated question to answer.
The short answer is that you should only put the scenes in that serve the purpose of the BOOK.
In the trade, we call this "murdering your darlings."
I have no idea who coined the phrase "murder your darlings", but I love it because it sums up the feeling of looking at a character... a line... a piece of dialogue... a description... a subplot... SOMETHING that you just LOVE...
But it doesn't work.
And so you have to kill it.
That's what happened with the scene I posted yesterday. I love Cammie and Zach squaring off in that alley. I love the thought of how, last fall, Cammie saw the clean, fresh, pretty side of Roseville and this spring she's seeing the place where they keep their garbage. I like A LOT about that scene...
But it doesn't advance the overall plot. It takes us in a tangent away from the center of the story and, therefore, it had to go.
I think that an author's job is as much about what you leave off the page as it is about what you put on it.
But maybe that's just me.
later gators,
Ally
posted by Ally Carter at Monday, January 14, 2008
24 Comments:
Well "murdered" or not I still enjoy reading the book AND the deleted parts. =)
i really like the deleted scenes that you are posting. do you have any for love you kill you?
murdering darling! haha i love it!
and i agree, any darling victims from love you kill you? i would love to read them.
~ari :o)
As much as I hate to see ANY of your hard work,(that I LOVE to read) cut from the books, I guess I see your point. Still - any deleted scenes that don't contain plot that you're planning on using I would very much appreciate getting to read!!!
ah true true...murdering your darlings is a definite must when trying to tighten up a book plort right?
now, i know i've used the phrase "torture your darlings and kill your darlings" in reference to never letting your protagonist have what they want sort of thing, so that's all pretty cool.
but i'm glad you decided to use the plot later. maybe we'll get to see another scene something like this in a future book? hmmmm?? lol
Briana
if you have any more scenes with zach please put them up. i love him. maybe once the Cove ops assignment is in another book we can see the other scene? great work ally!
oooh i want to read more so badly! i hope you do use that scene in a future book. even though those deleted scenes take away from the book lots of people LOVE to read them. i know many of your readers would enjoy seeing some posted on your site.
so how is gg3 coming along? rewriting yet?
do u have any other scenes with Zach!!!!! Please!!!!!
hee hee!!! murdering darlings... :D thats funny!!! lol. do u have any more that we can see?!?!
oh that's cool that you're putting that off for another book! and i understand the "killing your darling" thing lol maybe i'll use that someday :) teachers always tell me that i write too much...
well anyways, the deleted scene just made me wonder what exactly happened with Dillon back there you know? i just... OMG i need to know what happened with dillon... do you think maybe you can post just that part???
<3
Hmmm....sneeky (muder, murder, murder...)
haha, thank's for telling us that, Ally! I'll take that in notice when I'm writing my novel.
:) you rock Ally *thumbs up*
I agree, great choice of name "murdering darlings" says it all... but is there any chance you colud put up some other deleted scenes that don't correspond with upcoming books. Thanks for your time and all the deleted scenes you put up that i love reading!!
"murdering your darlings" hahaha, i love that
when you do use that CoveOps scene in a future book, do you think you could tell us on your diary page? i get it if you don't, because that would be sort of difficult to remember if it was two books later or something.
but thanks for posting the deleted scenes! i love them!
I have the same problems. :) It's so cool reading your blog, especially about writing GG, because I have so many of the same issues. :)
Awsome! I am wondering about the before and after sene. But I do hope you put it in another book. It sounds interesting! I am hooked on your books, can't wait until the next one comes out. My cousins and I always talk to each other, and I'm trying to get my friends to read it! [if they like it, then they'll tell people... and soon our whole population of girls in my school would be hooked to your books too. Happened to maximum ride and twilight series XD]
Wow... "murdering" sounds a bit harsh... please ressurect the coveOps class because I really want to read the first scene! Any more deleted scenes would be much appreciated... or another HINT (cough, cough) on book 3?
I am obsessive over the GG books... almost all of the girls in my grade have read it and we wasted the first five minutes of a spanish class screaming about cross my heart (and then screaming more when we realized that our spanish was probably what cammie learned in the first month of seventh grade by her level of current fluency...)
MORE DELETED SCENES! Por favor y gracias (not that bad!)
I love the deleted scenes! Do you think gg3 will be out before september? I need something to get me through my summer job!
i know that in some of the q/a you said you wouldn't release anything out about gg3 but i was wondering when it's going to come out i'm dying to read it
wow. i. loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee your books. and that's an understatement <3
Ally, it's a snippet from Stephen King... xxoo
"...kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings..."
ok i know that you keep saying that you cant release anything about gg3, but im going NUTS waiting for somthing! I would be happy with just one word from the title! LOL! : ) SOMTHING to sustain me, and by the looks of it, all of the other people on here that read your books! lol! sigh......I wish i knew if Zach and Cammie are going to get together in gg3 cuz thats the question that keeps bugging me! lol!
-Gallaghergirl95
you have a really cute kitchen!
Oh my gosh! I know exactly how you feel! I had to write a "short" story for English (Note the quotations around "short") and my rough draft was 16 pages. No lie. 7, front and back. The finished project? Typed, 6 pages, front and back. I feel your pain...
-God bless from Spazz
so does that mean that zach will be in future books?
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