I love how you guys have an endless stream of though-provoking questions. I’ve not heard of this term until you introduced it. I’ll attempt some form of an answer that hopefully makes sense.
What do you think about this advice? (Killing your darlings. KYD) Generally speaking, I don't really do this. Kind of. I do try to make sure that everything I include does either move the plot, develop the characters or build on lore, though you can justify most things with one of the three, and sometimes I do fail on that front anyway - which is mostly to do with simlit being a "live" process. By which I mean, if this was a book, once I got to the end I probably would go and cut some of the bits to tidy it up a little, but since I don't fully know what the end will look like yet, that's not really possible. (I doubt the season 1 ending I have in mind will change at this point, but the way I get to it might differ slightly from what I thought at the start, for instance). ~ @ThePlumbob
Wholeheartedly agree. I try to make sure that every obscure line in my story highlights something useful to the readers. Personally I think SimLit has more wiggle room than books because as pointed, it’s a live process with back and forth communication with readers. So getting to the end of the story may not necessarily be the main focus all the time. Injecting lighthearted fun, behind the scenes, or random lore, which may or may not add to the story (like zombie Sandy) is imo awesome moments that would’ve not existed if KYD were stubbornly practiced, which would be such a shame. :lol:
Personally, I’m doing a tiny experimental pushback of my own in regards to KYD for S2. I’ve mentioned that I wanted to be more descriptive in my writing this time around, so I’m adding bits and pieces of info which I think are nice-to-knows and not particularly essential to the story plot or characters, or any front. I don’t see them as fillers or extra weight. But to some they’d probably see them as such. I plan for when my reading circle finally catches up to S2, I’d ask readers what they think of the changes. (Maybe they won’t detect a difference even. :sweat_smile: )
That’s for tiny details, for whole chapters:
Have you used the concept of “killing your darlings” in your writing before? If so, what did you remove (if you can answer that without spoilers)?I’ve always felt guilty about killing Kian’s entire arc. His arc wasn’t the only one that was removed. Clarissa (Athena’s childhood bully), Athena fitting into her new school, finding her social position among Kian’s friends; Athena, Kaitlyn and Maia’s adventures; the sociopolitical play between Kian + his friends amongst themselves and the wider community (hence involving Masato and Curtis); Curtis, Athena and Grim’s street arc (This part is a super darling. :cry: I really wanted to include this). And more.
One reason to why I KYD-ed so much of the story is because I evaluated the ‘impact’ of those chapters towards the main plot. Do they add, compliment, enhance or distract? Can I achieve a similar result via a different route? And how necessary was it that these side characters get elaborated on?
It's also partly because of my obsession with chapter numbers but lets not go there *cough*
Though I never got round to featuring these story parts, they’re not killed in my head. The effects/results of these ‘not-shown’ chapters will shape the climate in S2 or affect certain characters directly. The only difference is that they will be perceived as new development but for me, they’re a direct consequence of a series of events in the past.
I do leave a lot of things on the cutting room floor, although as you say most of it is because of story flow and moving the plot along. I do sometimes struggle with altering ideas based on how I think my audience might interpret it. It’s often concepts that I was very enthusiastic about when initially thinking of it. But if it doesn’t fit, or I think it may upset readers, then I have a tendency of either toning it down or outright removing it. ~_sims_Yimi
I’m expecting to discard a lot of lore/chapters/arcs along the way in S2 too! Though there’s quite a lot that I’m adamant to include this time. One of the justifications for KYD is so the story doesn’t get convoluted and that it’s best to have one or two strong ideas than a handful of weak ones, right? I agree with it, but I’ll cross that bridge once I get to it. In the mean time, my head (since I am lousy with note taking) is swimming with so many adventures for each side character it’s mad. I might create an alternate section and call it “Extra” or something and plop all these side stories so they stop nagging at me. But for the moment, I’m feeling slightly experimental. I have somewhat of an idea to implement them all so I’ll see if it works. xD
I think I’ve told you how I outrightly removed a sub-chapter in Ch.3 of Season 1 and have beaten myself up since. (That chapter is STILL sitting in my drafts) :bawling: So I’m not a huge proponent to killing off chapters that you feel passionate for. Me thinking of Athena, Curtis and Grim’s street adventures still gets to me. I’m glad you kept May day. It’s a cornerstone to Morgana’s character development. Dark as it was, it made me sympathise with her.Without an event as strong as May Day, I might not understand why she turned out the way she did, and may detest her character instead. (If you want that effect that’s fine too.)