A Deleted Darling

3. The Art of Cutting

The Minute-Men are all about cooperation.

As discussed in our previous installments, the team only works if each individual contributes. It’s a true ensemble. All for one. One for all.

The same applies to the components of a novel. Hence, today’s topics:

Killing Darlings

Above: Storyboard pages of a proposed scene for Minute-Men: Execute and Run.

Hang around with writers long enough, and you’re likely to hear them talk of murder—as in murdering or killing their darlings.

“In writing, you must kill all your darlings,” they might say, repeating advice often attributed to William Faulkner, though it has also been credited to Ernest Hemingway, Gustave Flaubert, and even Samuel Johnson.

But according to John Crowley, the advice originated with the lesser-known Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, a British writer and editor who is remembered today (if he is remembered at all) for having edited the Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900.

But whatever the source, the advice is sound.

Authors must jettison their favorite bits in service of the work as a whole.

A Deleted Darling

Above: Minute-Men characters Dr. Blackwell, Sgt. Hayes, and Research Assistant Jamie Valentine.

In a novel, details need to add up. Components must work together. If a scene, passage, or clever piece of action doesn’t contribute to the whole, a writer must be willing to throw it out.

Such was the case with an early storyboard sequence for a Minute-Men adventure that my brother Chris created to pitch the story’s concept.

In the scene, wounded Marine Daniel Hayes is recovering from a procedure that healed his body. Yet psychological trauma remains. His amiable demeanor belies a solitary darkness. He is guarded, secretive, withdrawn, and possibly aware that his treatment has changed him in unexpected ways.

Likewise, Dr. Norman Blackwell and research assistant Jamie Valentine seem aware of potential complications that they will not discuss in his presence.

All three are on edge, and for good reason—as we will discover when Daniel Hayes ventures out on his own.

Exclusive: A Scene You Won’t Find in MM: E&R

The tense opening and violent payoff of the storyboard scene hooked me when I first saw it, and even though Chris and I soon realized that the passage wouldn’t work within the context of the overall story, it nevertheless informed my work as I moved forward with the novel.

And so here it is, a first-look video incorporating elements from Chris’s early storyboard: a deleted scene in which Sgt. Danial Hayes experiences his first burst of Minute-Man power.

Challenge #2: Name the Darlings

Here are six deleted scenes from well-known films. All were cut either before or immediately after release. Can you name one or more of the films? Can you tell us what is happening in any of the deleted scenes?

The first respondent to identify at least one film pictured above and its murdered darling will receive a signed copy of Minute-Men: Execute & Run upon its release in October.

Responses can be submitted here:

Or here:

We’ll announce the winner (along with additional information on the films and their deleted scenes) when the next biweekly installment of this newsletter drops on June 24.

In the meantime, if you haven’t already done so, please subscribe …

… then spread the word …

… and stand by for our next installment of the Minute-Men: Execute & Run newsletter.

We’ll meet you there!