“ The big vocabulary; the clever repartee; the witticisms and word play; the obscure, in-crowd cultural references; the ability to perform textual gymnastics…all of this destroys the work.”

Does it? Not everyone writes in the Ernest Hemingway/Raymond Carver stripped-down school.

The idea that there is one standard of writing and not following that standard means you’ve destroyed the work is as lethal a killer to the flow of creativity as I can imagine.

I’m not saying the Let ‘er Rip school is the only one, either. But I’ve never thought Faulkner’s “Kill your darlings”* means “Cut out anything that isn’t bare-bones minimalism.” I might be wrong.

Good article.

*I’ve never understood why so many think this is the greatest piece of writing advice, ever, either.