Killing Your Darlings

or The Dangers of Thinking 'Outside the Box'...by Jenna Byrnes

This post was originally written a few years ago when I was a regular columnist on the 'Oh Get A Grip' blog. Hope you enjoy the reboot!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I thought long and hard about the subject this week, "Killing your darlings."

Huh.

None of my darlings has ever died.

You see, I write HEA. Happily ever after. Killing off one of the main characters works directly against the HEA affect I strive to achieve.


Do I ever put them through torment before that last page is turned? Duh. Books need conflict, or there won't be an interesting story. Most often, the conflict involves something dreadful that's keeping Boy #1 away from Boy #2 (or Girl #1, if you swing in that direction!) As with most good movies or TV shows, the conflict could usually be solved if an objective third party would sit Numbers 1 and 2 down and set them straight with the facts. But that wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

Recently, I tried to kill off a character. Not a main, but a secondary 'snitch' that had a fairly decent role in a cop short story I wrote. As usual, I sent it to my second set of eyes, Jude Mason, for editing. She sent it back with some red marks, some nice comments, and the phrase, "I don't think killing that guy is going to work."

Harumph.

It was my story, and I wanted the dude to die, so I left it in. I got the acceptance back with a contract and short note from my editor, "I really don't think that guy should die at the end. Not a very 'romance novel' thing to do."

Well, whaddaya know? Jude Mason was right. LOL (Okay, she usually is. But sometimes I fight it as much as possible.) And so, with the click of a few keyboard keys, the snitch was pulled back from the brink of death and was healing nicely by the end of the story. I didn't really mind making the change, but sometimes I question the 'in the box' parameters that romance writers have to stick with. I get tired of men who must be alpha males, and just once, I'd like to send one careening over a cliff at the end of a book. I know, I know...not a very 'romance novel' thing to do. But I've often wanted to try my hand at horror. Maybe there, it would work.

Heh heh heh! 


Jenna Byrnes
Page Scorching Erotic Romance
http://www.jennabyrnes.com/
http://bookswelove.net/jennabyrnes.php  

The Back Nine

 

 I FIRST STARTED READING  & WAS READING FAST UNTIL I REACHED
THE THIRD SENTENCE. I STOPPED AND STARTED OVER READING SLOWER AND
THINKING ABOUT EVERY WORD. THIS EMAIL IS VERY THOUGHT PROVOKING. MAKES
YOU STOP AND THINK. READ SLOWLY!

 AND THEN IT IS THE WINTER OF YOUR LIFE€¦   TODAY IS THE OLDEST YOU'VE EVER BEEN, YET THE YOUNGEST YOU'LL EVER BE,

SO ENJOY THIS DAY WHILE IT LASTS.

 You know ... time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware
of the passing years It seems just yesterday that I was young, just
married and embarking on my new life with my mate. Yet in a way, it
seems like eons ago, and I wonder where all the years went. I know that
I lived them all. I have glimpses of how it was back then and of all my
hopes and dreams.

 But, here it is... the "€œback nine" of my life and it catches me by
surprise...How did I get here so fast? Where did the years go and where
did my youth go?

 I remember well seeing older people through the years and thinking that
those older people were years away from me and that “I was only on
the first hole” and the "back nine" was so far off that I could
not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like.

 But, here it is...my friends are retired and getting gray...they move
slower and I see an older person now. Some are in better and some worse
shape than me...but, I see the great change...Not like the ones that I
remember who were young and vibrant...but, like me, their age is
beginning to show and we are now those older folks that we used to see
and never thought we'd become.

 Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for
the day! And taking a nap is not a treat anymore... it's mandatory!
Cause if I don't on my own free will.. I just fall asleep where I sit!

 And so...now I enter into this new season of my life unprepared for all
the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do
things that I wish I had done but never did!! But, at least I know,
that though I’m on the “back nine”, and I'm not sure how long it
will last...this I know, that when it's over on this earth...it's over.
A new adventure will begin! Yes, I have regrets. There are things I
wish I hadn't done...things I should have done, but indeed, there are
many things I'm happy to have done. It's all in a lifetime.

 So, if you're not on the “back nine” yet...let me remind you, that
it will be here faster than you think. So, whatever you would like to
accomplish in your life please do it quickly! Don't put things off too
long!! Life goes by quickly. So, do what you can today, as you can
never be sure whether you're on the 'back nine" or not!

 You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of your
life...so, live for today and say all the things that you want your
loved ones to remember...and hope that they appreciate and love you for
all the things that you have done for them in all the years past!!

 "Life" is a gift to you. The way you live your life is your gift to
those who come after. Make it a fantastic one. LIVE IT WELL! ENJOY
TODAY! DO SOMETHING FUN! BE HAPPY ! HAVE A GREAT DAY Remember "It is
health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver. LIVE
HAPPY IN 2014!

 LASTLY, CONSIDER THIS: ~Your kids are becoming you......but your
grandchildren are perfect! ~Going out is good.. Coming home is better!
~You forget names.... But it's OK because other people forgot they even
knew you!!! ~You realize you're never going to be really good at
anything.... especially golf. ~The things you used to care to do, you
no longer care to do, but you really do care that you don't care to do
them anymore. ~You sleep better on a lounge chair with the TV blaring
than in bed. It's called "pre-sleep". ~You miss the days when
everything worked with just an "ON" and "OFF" switch.. ~You tend to use
more 4 letter words ... "what?"..."when?"...” ??? ~Now that you can
afford expensive jewelry, it's not safe to wear it anywhere. ~You
notice everything they sell in stores is "sleeveless"?!!! ~What used to
be freckles are now liver spots. ~Everybody whispers. ~You have 3 sizes
of clothes in your closet.... 2 of which you will never wear. ~~~But
Old is good in some things: Old Songs, Old movies, and best of all, OLD
FRIENDS!!

 Stay well, "OLD FRIENDS!" ! It's Not What You Gather, But What You
Scatter That Tells What Kind Of Life You Have Lived.



 HAPPY NEW YEAR MY FRIENDS

INSOMNIAC

No Sleep by Milosaur

 

It’s 11:11 p.m. Sometimes, it’s 12:12. And other times it’s 3:33 or, maybe, it’s 4:56.  These clock times engage my imagination. They happen mostly the dark hours, when I wake up, check the time, shake my head and either stagger off to the bathroom, let the cat in or out, or wander around the house for a half an hour until my old joints unkink sufficiently so I can go back to sleep.

I suppose I shouldn’t waste time thinking about whether this means anything, but the problem is that during the '60’s I dabbled in numerology, and that years earlier, sitting on the floor to the off-stage right of a Barbadian bar, this little girl read books about aliens visiting earth in ancient times, which accounts for most of our mythology, or about prehistoric collisions of the earth with Venus, or about contemporary African tribes who somehow or other know all about the invisible-to-the-naked-eye-red-dwarf companion of the blue giant star, Sirius. I’ve been soaking in this other-worldly, one-brick-shy-of-a-load content since I was a post war precocious child, with predictable results.

Whenever I wake up at night, I always look at the clock, and because there is usually some variation of what I take to be a “meaningful” configuration, I’ve begun to imagine these are messages—from somewhere about something. Don’t ask me what, although I’ve spent plenty of 2-4 a.m. hours wondering.

Are these omens, messages from a hitherto uncommunicative universe? 

Is the TARDIS land going to appear in my bedroom? (Cool!)

Is some Nightmarish Being from an occult Lovecraftian dimension with three toes and a long snaky snout lurking just behind the bedroom door?

Is my ship—so long awaited—about to come in?

Or is it all simply a series of unrelated events, just “random chaos ”(as one of my friends has it), business as usual on this particular plane?

 ~~

Juliet Waldron
Author of Mozart's Wife, Roan Rose, Nightingale
and other historical novels. 
http://www.julietwaldron.com
http://www.amazon.com/author/julietwaldron