Kill Your Darlings

When executing your vision leaves you feeling flat

Brooke Wilder
Aug 28, 2017 · 2 min read

Anna has to go. She’s done her best with her long blonde hair, green eyes, and pillowy chest. But her best is not nearly enough.

I have been visualising the day I write my novel for a number of years now. But when I finally put my fingers to the keyboard I discovered that telling a fictional tale was deeply unsatisfying. It was also really bloody hard! My characterisation felt clumsy and my vulnerability blocked by the third person narrative.

And so I’m killing my darling, Anna.

It’s not her fault, it’s mine. I got caught up ticking creative boxes and forgot about why I write. According to my first Medium post, almost a year ago, this is why:

I feel safe and purposeful in the belief that hundreds of chance encounters end up making a messy, glorious, connected whole. I feel soothed when I can draw links between experiences, or when they seem to be beautifully timed, universally speaking. This is a kind of magic to me.

And so, rather than hiding behind a fictional blonde beauty, I would prefer to tell the story of Levi as I experienced him. All guts, no glory.


New pieces in the LEVI series to commence end September x

)
Brooke Wilder

Written by

🙋🏻‍♀: Founder of www.shedesires.com.au. Created to bring more pleasure to the lives of busy women.

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