The Writer’s Playground Series – Kill Your Darlings

Kill Your Darlings (For a Friend)

Objective: To practice the crucial editing skill of cutting beautiful but unnecessary sentences, for the good of the story.

How to Play:

Everyone brings a short piece of writing (under 500 words).
They pass it to the person on their right.
The reader’s task is to identify and gently bracket exactly one sentence or phrase—the “darling”—that is beautifully written but ultimately slows the pace, is redundant, or distracts from the main point of the paragraph.
The group then discusses why these darlings, though lovely, might be better cut. This makes the concept of “killing your darlings” a less painful, collaborative process.

Best for: Learning conciseness, improving pacing, and practicing objective editing.

Ah, the dreaded Culling. Painful yet necessary. Be strong, my friends, it will be okay.

Fantasy Coloring Pages

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