Welcome to the fourth installment of “Becoming a 
Better Writer” An investigation into the art of 
creativity – in ten easy lessons!

A special thanks to everyone who sent me feedback 
about the last lesson. One particular comment I made 
(about writing at work) proved to be very controversial. 
I apologize to anyone who was offended - that was not 
my intention.  

Recently, I’ve also received emails from subscribers 
suggesting I run an online forum for discussions 
arising from these lessons. Well, I've set one up at 
Yahoo Groups. Go here to join:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/easywaytowrite/

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“Turn your urge to write into a magnificent obsession” 
Go to: http://www.easywaytowrite.com

I look forward to working with you.

Lesson Four

“Murder your darlings” is a phrase coined by F Scott 
Fitzgerald. He was referring to what you might call 
your “best bits.” He believed that these are the very 
“bits” you should always edit out of your work.

As Elmore Leonard once said, “If I come across anything 
in my work that smacks of ‘good writing,’ I immediately 
strike it out.”   

The theory is that writing you’re particularly proud 
of is probably self-indulgent and will stand out. 
You might think this is good. Wrong.

You will most likely break the “fictive dream.” (This 
is the state of consciousness reached by readers who 
are absorbed by a writer. We will be looking at it 
closely next lesson.) And breaking your reader out 
of this fictive dream is a heinous sin!

Editing out “the best bits” is the hardest thing a 
novice writer has to do – after all, isn’t it 
counterproductive to write good things down only 
to cut them out?  

No, it’s all good training…

When you start out, every word you write is 
precious. 

The words are torn from you. You wrestle with them, 
forcing them to express what you’re trying to say. 
When you’re done, you may have only a paragraph or 
a few pages – but to you the writing shines with 
inner radiance and significance.

That’s why criticism cuts to the core. You can’t 
stand the idea of changing a single word in case 
the sense you’re trying to convey gets lost or 
distorted.

Worse still, you have moments of doubt when you 
think you’re a bad writer - criticism will do 
this every time. Sometimes you might go for 
months, blocked and worrying over your words 
and your ability.

There is only one cure for this – to write more; 
to get words out of your head and on to the page. 
When you do that, you’re ahead, no matter how bad 
you think you are. 

After all, words are just the tools – a collection 
of words is not the end result, it is only the 
medium through which you work. In the same way 
that a builder uses bricks and wood to build a 
house – the end result is not about the materials, 
it’s about creating a place to live. 

As you progress in your writing career, you become 
less touchy about your words. You have to. Editors 
hack them around without mercy. Agents get you to 
rewrite great swathes of text they don’t like. 
Publishers cut out whole sections as irrelevant. 
All this hurts – a lot. 

But after a while, you realize you’re being helped. 
That it’s not the words that matter so much as what 
you’re trying to communicate.

A best selling author I know said he didn’t feel 
he was a REAL writer until he’d written over a 
million words. 

The guy’s famous now – and rich – and still in 
his thirties.

Before that, he spent eight years writing hundreds 
of short stories and numerous novels because he 
was convinced that good, sellable writing is not 
an Art – but a craft. 

He’s right, of course. It’s a simple lesson. 

The more you write, the better you get. 

Once you accept that none of the words actually 
matter, and have the courage to “murder your 
darlings,” you have the makings of the correct 
professional attitude to ensure your writing 
career. 

This is a tough lesson to learn. 

That’s why I believe my “Easy Way to Write” system 
is the best way forward. It teaches you how to 
clear the decks, achieve a good author’s mindset 
and gets you writing fast and well right from the 
start. 

The truth is, if you want to be a best selling 
author, you must write – fast and often. Just an 
hour a day writing 1000 to 5000 words is much 
better than one afternoon in three weeks spent 
trying to write a whole chapter. 

Good writing thrives on regularity and repetition.

Okay, it’s not just about quantity. It’s also 
about learning the techniques and rules of good 
storytelling. 

(That’s covered in the book too!)
http://easywaytowrite.com/novel.html

But it’s really only when you have a lot of writing 
behind you that you fully understand what you want 
to say and how best you can say it. 

As always, the trick is…to write!

©robparnell 2004

This is the fourth of ten short lessons on “Becoming 
a Better Writer.” They arrive weekly. You may 
unsubscribe at any time – but of course, I’d much 
prefer if you didn’t!

Also, you may like to forward this email to writers 
and colleagues who might find it interesting, fun 
and educational. No problem but - no editing please!

Best regards and keep writing.

Don’t forget, you can contact me for advice, 
information and indeed, for any reason at
rob@easywaytowrite.com

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Make Lots of Money Writing - The Easy Way!
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PPS: Next time, we’ll be looking at the “fictive 
dream” and the sacred pact you make with your reader.

Till then, keep well and happy.

Ciao


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