throw rocks at your darlings

So, I was responding to a writer who found the two famous pieces of advice— “chase your character up a tree and throw rocks at him” and “kill your darlings”— just too depressing and cruel.

I responded by saying: fear not. Depressing and cruel are not the only tools available. And neither of those old saws means what people think.

I'll get “kill your darlings” out of the way first. It has nothing to do with killing characters off. It means: don’t be afraid to cut what needs to be cut, even if it’s your favorite part. Good advice for any creative endeavor, and the opposite of depressing. It’s exciting to seek and destroy that which is sabotaging your work.

As for the throwing of rocks— it doesn’t mean to torment your character gratuitously. It means: don’t let up on the tension. When your character has faced a moment of conflict, don’t let that dissipate. Bring in another tense moment, hot on its heels. Keep giving the reader a desperate urge to find out what’s next. Have them invested until the very last page.

And tension doesn’t have to be cruel. In fact, the character might not even know anything bad is happening... for example, I know it’s a screenplay, but look at the opening of “Touch of Evil” (director’s cut). A time bomb is placed in a car trunk and the camera follows the completely oblivious characters as they slowly roll through Tijuana. There’s conflict all right, but it’s all in the viewers’ minds: they see nothing happening, but know something soon will be. Or will it? Do they want it to? Did they really see the timer? When will the story start? Is it already started? Say, the edge of this seat is kind of sharp…!