In writing classes and seminars, we are told to kill our darlings, to cut scenes that don’t advance the story. Of course, this, like all such absolute commandments, must bow to Rule One of Writing: Does It Work?
Sometimes, it’s obvious that a scene doesn’t carry its weight. In my most recent novel, Nell: Marshal of Bodie, I wanted to bring a Paiute character, Little Thumb, into a scene to paint the way things were in the gold-mining town of Bodie, California, in 1892. But his presence didn’t advance the story, and so he was cut from that scene. In an unfinished novel, I have a scene where Dr. Watson, yes, that Dr. Watson, and his wife, visit Winston Churchill’s mother. An editor who reviewed the novel told me the scene wasn’t necessary, but the idea of cutting the scene grates on me. In that scene, readers get to see interactions between Watson and his wife that help shape their characterizations. That has value, even if the scene may not advance the mystery aspects of the story. I’m not sure if I am right and I should keep the scene, or if the editor is right and the scene should be cut. The result of my hesitation is that that novel is back in the drawer.
As a result of these recent quandaries, I pondered what happens to banished characters who are like snippets of movie film left on the cutting room floor. Will I or another author pluck them up and use them in some new tale? Will they ever get to strut the stage, if only briefly?
I am reminded of Arthur Conan Doyle’s preface to The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes. “[Holmes]…must go the way of all flesh, material or imaginary. One likes to think that there is some fantastic limbo for the children of imagination, some strange, impossible place where the beaux of Fielding may still make love to the belles of Richardson, where Scott’s heroes still may strut, Dickens’s delightful Cockneys still raise a laugh, and Thackeray’s worldlings continue to carry on their reprehensible careers. Perhaps in some humble corner of such a Valhalla, Sherlock and his Watson may for a time find a place..,”
Indeed, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson have found such a Valhalla. In the imaginings of authors such as Nicholas Meyer, Laurie R. King, Bonnie MacBird, and many others, the adventures of Holmes and Watson continue. My Paiute character, Little Thumb, may yet find a life in one of the sequels of my historical mystery. May it be so for all our darlings.
Have you agonized over cutting a character or a scene? How do you decide whether or not to kill one of your darlings?
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John Edward Mullen is the author of the award-winning mystery, Digital Dick. His recent release, Nell: Marshal of Bodie, is set in a gold-mining town in 1892 California and is centered around an 18-year-old young woman with a wooden leg who becomes the town marshal in order to track down her father’s killers. Nell was selected as a finalist for the 2022 Claymore Award for Best Historical.
2 comments:
Interesting dilemma--food for thought. Personally, I would like to see the scene with the Watsons and Churchill's mother.
Personally, I would get an opinion other than from that editor. My inclination would be to cut the scene, but I could be persuaded to keep it depending upon another's recommendation.
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