Disclosure:
I received an Advance Reader copy of Murder Your Darlings from Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. They give me no money, nor do they in any way influence my thoughts – those are 100% my own for better or worse.
Edition:
Kindle e-book (Net Galley)
Synopsis:
I’m grabbing this one from the publisher, because really, I can’t get too flowery, witty, or original with the synopsis of a book about writing. Unless I say, this is a book about writing books – it takes a bunch of highly influential writing books and distills them down to a few particularly useful sentiments each.
Actually, I kind of nailed that. But still, on with the official synopsis:
From one of America’s most influential writing teachers, a collection of 50 of the best writing strategies distilled from 50 writing and language books — from Aristotle to Strunk and White.With so many excellent writing guides lining bookstore shelves, it can be hard to know where to look for the best advice. Should you go with Natalie Goldberg or Anne Lamott? Maybe William Zinsser or Stephen King would be more appropriate. Then again, what about the classics — Strunk and White, or even Aristotle himself?
Thankfully, your search is over. In Murder Your Darlings, Roy Peter Clark, who for more than 30 years has been a beloved and revered writing teacher to children and Pulitzer prize-winners alike, has compiled a remarkable collection of more than 100 of the best writing tips from 50 of the best writing books of all time. With a chapter devoted to each key strategy, Clark expands and contextualizes the original author’s suggestions, and offers anecdotes about how each one helped him or other writers sharpen their skills.
An invaluable resource for writers of all kinds, Murder Your Darlings is an inspiring and edifying ode to the craft of writing.
My Thoughts:
Writing can be tough. When you hit a block, it can even make you feel downright murderous. I know – I’ve been the mayor of Writer’s Block Town for the last several months – I had completely stalled out on the academic paper I have devoted the last 8 months or so of my life to. I ended up using some of the advice I found in Murder Your Darlings to help me through the final phases of editing. I’m actually done now. I just have to smack down my fear of rejection for long enough to submit it. I wish this book helped with that as well (I kid, but also, that would have been stellar).
I like that each chapter is devoted to one (or sometimes two) books on writing, and that Clark distilled them each down to only their most important points. For someone like me, who hardcore sucks at writing succinctly (whaaaa? I know…), I really jammed on the first chapter which covers On the Art of Writing by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch. Quiller-Couch also originated the phrase which gave this book its name – “murder your darlings,” referring to distilling your work down to only what is needed. I found it to be the most useful bit of the book – but I think there is definitely something here for everyone.
“Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it–whole heartedly–and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings.“
On the Art of Writing by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch
All of the books on writing you have ever likely considered reading are touched on here – and probably even a few you’re unfamiliar with. He even covers Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. This alone will likely appeal to a lot of people. Although – unpopular opinion time – I don’t like the way King writes, I don’t deny that he’s clearly doing something right. You don’t get a bazillion mega-fans or book deals or movie adaptations if you’re bad at what you do, right?
Rating:
I liked this book a lot. And like I mentioned, I’ve already gotten some good use out of it. I’ll probably buy it to add to my collection of ‘I have a bad case of imposter syndrome and need these to help me feel like I know what the hell I’m doing’ books.
Murder Your Darlings Roy Peter Clark Little, Brown and Company Non Fiction, Language, Writing ISBN: 9780316481885 Expected Publication: January 21, 2020
Nice!