which way, wizard?

"Kill your darlings" means "if something is holding you back, get rid of it, even if it sounds pretty."

That's it! That's all it means! It means if you're stuck and stalled out on your story and you could fix the whole block by removing something but you're avoiding removing that thing because it's good, you remove that thing. That's the darling.

It does NOT mean

That you have to get rid of your self-indulgent writing

That you should delete something just because you like it (?wtf?)

That you need to kill off characters (??? what)

That you have to pare your story down to the absolute bare bones

That you have to delete anything whatsoever if you don't want to

The POINT is that you STOP FEELING GUILTY for throwing out good writing that isn't SERVING THE STORY.

The POINT is that you don't get so HUNG UP on the details that you lose sight of the BIG PICTURE.

Part III

"We will get through this. Together."

"You can hold my hand, if it makes you feel safer."

"It will become easier. Maybe not today, but soon."

"Lay your head on my shoulder and try to sleep."

"There is nothing wrong with needing a bit of help."

"I'm here for you. Today, tomorrow and every day after."

"Please trust me to help you."

"Thank you for getting me through this."

"I'm really hoping to see you smile again soon."

"Nothing a good night's sleep can't fix."

"Show me that bruise please."

"I'm taking care of you now."

"Do you feel safe enough to come with me?"

"Let's dry those tears and get you some water."

"I'm going to be here when you wake up."

"This will all soon be in the past."

"Can I please hold your hand?"

"Sorry, I'm being so difficult for you."

"Don't apologize for needing help every now and then."

"Let's get you in the shower and we'll take it from there."

Hurt/Comfort Masterpost

i don’t really think it helps anyone! to be so constantly self deprecating all the time, because the nature of art is that it’s never going to quite look like it does in your head because the human imagination is a fickle thing, and this constant ‘aaah its not Good’ instict is going to halt your progress, because you’re never going to get to that stage where it looks perfectly as how you imagine it.

accepting your art as it is and understanding that just because it’s not like your imagination doesn’t mean it’s bad, and appreciating the way it looks and that You Made That is absolutely vital. and i think being proud of yourself, being proud of the stuff you make and your improvement is hugely important because that powers you forward… i love thinking about, ‘oh, this will look so cool when i’m done’ and more often than not i finish and i’m like yeah, damn, this DOES look so cool! and trusting that what you make is good will help you explore more, branch out, etc.

Here’s to new mistakes ✨

MIGUEL O’HARA aka SPIDER-MAN 2099 ↳ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

and sometimes it's *throws dart at board* "this is where the palace is" *makes something blow up* "that's because magic" *writes about a monster* "he's also magic" *adds in mermaids for no reason* "poof magic"

I have a fabulous costume in mind