On Writing : 'Killing Your Darlings' by Lauren Hackney

Although very new and likely to be considered a novice I have had so much experience in just the last 8 months with having to delete and 'kill' sections of my pilot that I was very attached to. In the moment I was not happy with the feedback and couldn't understand WHY very important sections were identified to be cut. I am on my 6th re-write of my initial pilot and recently compared it to my original version. It bears so little with the initial and while the concept is exactly the same the pathways I have created to get there are almost entirely new compared to my original vision. I must say I was surprised how little I liked my original version after reading it 8 months later. It really was pretty poor haha.

Darrell Pennington I’m really impressed! 6 rewrites in just 8 months is amazing! It takes so much courage to cut sections you were attached to, but it sounds like you’ve grown enormously through the process. I struggled with it, I'll be honest but I can relate to you saying the concept is still as strong. I feel this will be the same for me. I need to start doing what you have done - save the first draft so I can read it again down the track!

Hi, Lauren Hackney. I've had to cut scenes, characters, dialogue, etc. from finished scripts and unfinished scripts. I save them for later sometimes. I even combined three unfinished scripts into one script once.

I have a bit of an advantage time wise - my wife and I sold all of our possessions (save for a 10x10 storage unit) and have been travelling the world since last October researching for the show so I have a lot of time to give to the project. We have hit 9 or 10 countries and 40 cities so far.

Maurice Vaughan I like that you did that - took those cut elements of your scripts and rolled them into one!

Darrell! That sounds so exciting! Write about that! Your travels sound unreal - good on you!

They will certainly find their way in. I have 2 other pilots written and one is very much based on our travels, still with an absurdly comedic and fun premise but not as politically incorrect or full of social commentary as Dixie Dynamite. All comedy and no drama.

Wow Darrell Pennington! That's every writer's dream. I've lived around the world, but had a growing family and neglected to keep a journal. (still kicking myself.) Can't wait to see what you do!

About an hour ago, Lauren Hackney, I crawled out from four 15-hour days of cutting my script from 120 pages to 99. I realized how much "writing" I unintentionally put into the action lines. It's tough shifting from writing novels to screenplays - and back. My producer said it needs to be 90ish pages and if I have to delete or rewrite anything else in the next week - well, I'd rather shave my eyebrows.

Oh Debbie Seagle that's a whole lot of editing right there! Wow! What an experience! Thank you for letting me know about the action lines... when you talk about the producer, is your project being made? I'm still learning so walk me through what's happening here please. Thank you!

Hi Lauren, it sounds like you went through developmental editing for your fiction novel. I took a Developmental Editing class at UCLA Extension Writer's Program to earn a Certificate in Literary Representation in March. I hope your session was helpful, and I wish you the best of luck in its finalized product!

I have written four novels that would make fantastic movies. Sadly, I don't know how to screenwrite. I've been trying to find a screenwriter to work on one of my novels, but I'm unable to afford their fees.

Thank you Ricardo Soto what do you write? And what's your process? :)

Hi Lois, the lounges could help you. There's screenwriting, Introduce Yourself and Anything Goes Lounges. It couldn't hurt to introduce yourself, explain where you are at in your journey and ask if anyone can assist you.

Friend, I believe I've been in your shoes before with a screenplay that I really tried finishing years ago but friends kept criticizing the shit out of it and what was worst I lost touch with this screenwriting group. The whole screenwriting process was driving me crazy where I just gave up. This was back in 2016. It's now 2025 and I'm now 65 pages into a wonderful Disney crossover I'm proud of and it's all because I connected with such a wonderful screenwriting teacher I met on the Facebook Screenwriting group. I swear hes the best $800 I ever spent in my life and its because his teaching style works for me. Now thanks to him, I can go back to that screenplay from 2016 and apply my teacher's advice to that script and finish it. Also when in doubt, consult, ChatGPT or Meta AI. I know it's artificial intelligence but they do help with writer's block by asking probing questions that dig deep and yes you can ask it to help you with a logline and outline. My advice: find a mentor and some kind of app or gadget who's willing to coach you even if you have to pay them.

Hi Lauren, I write non-fiction (i.e., biographies, business, romance, travel), fiction (i.e., children picture books, romance), as well as, screenplays (i.e., documentaries, epics, romance). My writing process is really simple: nonfiction, 1. I focus on facts and organization, 2. I use AutoCrit to edit, 3. I get feedback via Critique Circle, 4. revise and repeat until complete. Fiction and screenplays, 1. I strictly focus on plot, 2. I use AutoCrit for fiction, while ScriptReader AI for screenplays to edit, 3. I get feedback via Critique Circle, 4. revise and repeat until complete. I put a human touch, while remaining modern with its tools.

The holocaust script The Final Solution had to be cut from 115 pages to 97; shortening action lines and dialog, get rid of everything that didn't a 100% serve the plot - before its director told us it was up to par. Part of that cut was Himmler visiting Treblinka as part of "Operation Reinhard": depicting Himmler and the death camp's commandant Franz Stangl strolling through Treblinka's park and zoo in the German sector, while black smoke is seen in the background. Also the expensive revolt scenes were cut in half.

The bad news is that we all overwrite and over-share (this is an Emotional Trigger). After the pain dissipates, we realize that those "darlings" that we got rid of are very effective as Side Notes in our Book's Campaign (Lead Magnets, Blogs, Products, Upsells, Downsells, Offers, Slide Stacks, Email Campaigns, Social Media and Marketing Campaigns, Handouts, In-Person Pitches, Email Pitches, Pitch Decks, etc.). And if the darlings are really juicy, they are the foundations for Transmedia Production (where most of the money is made - think of it as compound interest) for Spin-Off Ideas and Products that provide leverage for Licensing Deals. The Darlings are unseen treasure that compound our reach over time and may end up being more valuable than the original book where we "framed and positioned" their life span....

I worked on several edits of a feature. I asked the producer if I could use one cut scene for a personal project. That became the nucleus for my first full length stage play. When you "kill your darlings', you can revive them. But yes, big edits can be tough.

Diana Levin I am so happy you found your group and started fresh. I feel you have passion again for your stories and your are full steam ahead crafting them - I also liked your advice: some kind of app or gadget. I didn't know so many were available! Thank you!

Amazing advice Miquiel - I had no idea to use them as Side Notes in book campaigns or for Transmedia Production. Wow you have a load of knowledge there! Thank you for being so open and sharing!

David, I'm curious, did you share your finished screenplay with the Producer in the end?

First of all, huge congrats on finishing your 80k-word draft, Lauren Hackney. That’s a massive accomplishment in itself and not something to take lightly.

You’re absolutely right, “killing your darlings” can be one of the hardest parts of the revision process. It’s tough to let go of scenes or characters that meant something to us when we wrote them, even tougher when they’re well-written but not serving the overall arc.

I recently had to cut an entire subplot and a supporting character I adored. It felt brutal at first, but it ultimately made the story tighter and the themes clearer. I’ve found it helps to save those cut pieces in a separate document, sometimes they become seeds for future stories.

Thank you for letting me know you've had to do the big cut! Did you have any editors give you advice or did you pick up that on your own Ashley Renée Smith! ?

Script writing specific: I'm a writer and producer. The producer experience has told me the following: You can tell the same story by making four characters three, dumping any character that doesn't push the story forward, and scale down massive scenes to locations and extras that relate the same ideas. Imagine two people on your shoulders, producer and reader. The producer imagines the cost and ability to execute your amazing idea. The reader begs for a fun, efficient and lean read. If you don't write with these two folks in mind, then be prepared to be passed on :(

I cut a kickass action scene that I loved writing and then reading but it was way too early in a sci-fi action script for a such a huge scene. It took away from plot and character time and then the finale felt like a retread in too many ways since it was another big action scene.

I've returned to a sci-fi script I put aside a year ago to focus a different story I had to get out of my head. That done, I re-read "Through the Wormhole" and began to re-write, incorporating ideas from a table read of my first ten pages, producer consults, and developing a pitch.

I had to kill a few darlings along the way, and now find I have a stronger, more cohesive story. I'm now letting it sit for another two weeks and on Monday will re-read and re-write again. I didn't agree with all suggestions made, but there are pockets of gold in everything! It's a fascinating process.

If you look at it as an opportunity to improve and strengthen your work, it takes the sting out of feedback. Don't be afraid of the re-write, or to kill your darlings. As others have observed here, if you save the darlings into a document, you might find the seed for something you didn't expect!

Yes Lauren Hackney I have a producer and we’re selecting a director who can bring investors (with their reputation and connections). Having a producer and a director with a few feature films in their resume also attracts more well-known actors. It’s like a snowball of connections. We writers don’t typically have that.

When my producer said it’s easier to distribute with less pages, I had no choice. Then tightening up the scenes and dialogue became exciting and my script became more streamlined.

I also looked at the script the way Ashley Renée Smith! described – which scenes/dialogues didn’t serve the overall arc and as Richard Wilkinson said: doesn’t push the story forward.

Dang I was in love with some of my darlings too.

Well done on your journey Debbie Seagle you're doing incredibly well!

Funnily enough, I did the opposite of killing a darling for Finding Elpis; in its original iteration, it had a more typical plot development involving a conflict with Earth after the band was abducted, complete with feds spying on everyone and the earth's president being incredibly power-hungry and seeing the band as traitors for siding with Lor Salviator and even seeking to mobilise all of Earth's citizens into a pointless war against Lor Salviator. In a way it was supposed to be a general critique of how backwards Earth likely is compared to other planets (since we all love saying "this is why aliens don't talk to us!" every time you hear a famous person in particular say and do something stupid), but mostly to show that Lor Salviator is insanely powerful but decides to be a fanboy for the band instead.

As time went on I got less and less sure about that development, since it seemed like there was no way to satisfactorily strengthen it. The time it really hit a nerve though was when I got feedback from the last contest I entered it in and the reader said that that particular development had a lot of potential, that when s/he got to it the story "finally felt like a movie" but it was really late, and even that I could've beefed up the antagonist and made her a genuine threat rather than a joke. I realised if the weakest part of the script would have someone telling me it was more interesting than the intended focus (to the point where the reader was practically gushing about where they envisioned the arc going, a stark contrast to how they reacted to the rest of it), and I had come to flat out hate that arc for being a plot tumour, then it was a good sign to get rid of it entirely. I initially came up with it to give the band a moment of awesomeness and actually live up to their peace ambassador reputation by stopping Earth from being cringe, but admittedly it was hard for me to effectively work that into the story. Plus, I noticed that its sequel also needed a big rewrite since it had A LOT of bloat, so I saw that removing the problem arc freed up a lot of room to transplant some of RoP's heft into Finding Elpis and rework them both.

I think it was a good move ultimately, especially since I still want there to not be a true antagonist/villain until later and also didn't want to have Léon be anything more than a fakeout antagonist (which I realise is a controversial choice in western media lol), and he was a much more tonally/thematically appropriate antagonist to Lor Salviator anyway than President Mulligan ever was. Not only that, but as I wrote out the rest of the series it became clear that the now-removed arc was so inconsequential that it literally was only mentioned as a throwaway line and that throwaway line was really all it needed to be xD

Wow that's incredible! Banafsheh Esmailzadeh - you went the other way with that one. I appreciate you giving me so much of your journey with this. I hope you are proud of your hard work - a sequel as well as what sounds like a massive redraft! Good to know you have spoken to a development team already and I think you're placing yourself to be in a good position for lots of growth in the industry. Keep me posted on your journey and what comes next - sounds like a great story!

Thanks Lauren Hackney, yeah, I arguably killed someone else's darling even though I was the one who wrote it XD but to be fair it did result in me killing an actual darling or at least resurrecting it later in RoP: Doomer earning the title of Endymion, which in the first draft happened because he took an active role in that problem conflict alongside Princess Almas. I realised since I still want him to earn that title (which gives him the most overt sign of change/growth in the band), I'll have to give it to him another way, which I'm working on right now in RoP. I definitely am proud of my work, especially since I'm more than halfway done the series (carefully eyeing how the plot goes and if I'm wrong about it being a pentalogy when it's potentially a hexalogy or God forbid even bigger lol). I actually haven't spoken to a development team yet but little by little I will :D this project is my latest life's work for a reason~

Lauren Hackney, I haven't worked with an editor at all on my book outlines. I've shared them with some trusted friends to get feedback, but otherwise I've been making cuts myself.