Murder Your Darlings: And Other Gentle Writing Advice from Aristotle to Zinsser

Dozens of writing guides have been written over the years, most of them full of sage advice for both aspiring writers and seasoned pros. Roy Peter Clark, who himself has written several of these guides, combines a number of the best tips from other writing guides into one volume in “Murder Your Darlings” (2020).

In 32 chapters he gathers advice on writing from about 50 different sources, including such people as Horace, Aristotle, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Stephen King, Kurt Vonnegut, Anne Lamott, E.M. Forster, Ursula K. Le Guin, Rudolf Flesch, S.I. Hayakawa, William Zinsser, Mary Karr, William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White.

Although the tips themselves may come from these others, Clark gives each of them his own spin, turning a show more self-help book that could have been a bit dull into sparkling reading. Some of the books he mines for their wisdom are no longer in print. Clark, who teaches writing, has gathered a large library of such books, shares the best they have to offer with the rest of us.

His book's title, “Murder Your Darlings,” is itself an old piece of writing advice. Clark writes, "Inspired by Samuel Johnson, Q (Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch) encourages writers to cut from a draft those darling phrases that seem the most self-consciously elegant. In other words, stop showing off."

From Edward R. Murrow, Clark learns that writers must try to become the eyes and ears of their audience.

From Constance Hale and Jessie Scanlon comes advice for writing for the digital age.

From John McPhee we can learn to develop a plan before starting to write.

And so it goes. Those who want to write better could read dozens of helpful guides. Or they could read “Murder Your Darlings.“ show less

I enjoy this style of book. It gives a preview into dozens of other books, and helps me remember a few that I have already read, and a few that are new to me and need to be added to my reading list.

In each chapter, Roy Peter Clark summarizes advice from other writing guides that he has found particularly poignant over the years. Some of it drifts into philosophical musings, but most of it is direct and immediately useful.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants a little wind puffed into their writing sails.

great volume with dozens of writing tips and a wonderful reference section of other volumes and books to explore about writing/being a writer. Not sure this is the first volume a would-be writer should dive into - but well worth it for the tips, perspective and references