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

by Roy Peter Clark

From one of America's most influential teachers, a collection of the best writing advice distilled from fifty language books -- from Aristotle to Strunk and White.




With so many excellent writing guides lining bookstore shelves, it can be hard to know where to look for the best advice. Should you go with Natalie Goldberg or Anne Lamott? Maybe William Zinsser or Stephen King would be more appropriate. Then again, what about the classics -- Strunk and White, or even Aristotle himself?




Thankfully, your search is over. In Murder Your Darlings , Roy Peter Clark, who has been a beloved and revered writing teacher to children and Pulitzer Prize winners alike for more than thirty years, has compiled a remarkable collection of more than 100 of the best writing tips from fifty of the best writing books of all time.




With a chapter devoted to each key strategy, Clark expands and contextualizes the original author's suggestions and offers anecdotes about how each one helped him or other writers sharpen their skills. An invaluable resource for writers of all kinds, Murder Your Darlings is an inspiring and edifying ode to the craft of writing.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Reference, Self Help, Crafts, Journalism

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 21, 2020

About the author

By many accounts, Roy Peter Clark is America's writing coach, a teacher devoted to creating a nation of writers. A Google search on his name reveals an astonishing web of influence, not just in the United States, but also around the world. His work has erased many boundaries. A Ph.D. in medieval literature, he is widely considered one of the most influential writing teachers in the rough-and-tumble world of newspaper journalism. With a deep background in traditional media, his work has illuminated, on the Internet, the discussion of writing. He has gained fame by teaching writing to children, and he has nurtured Pulitzer Prize-winning writers such as Thomas French and Diana Sugg. He is a teacher who writes, and a writer who teaches. That combination gives his most recent book, Writing Tools, a special credibility.

More credibility comes from Clark's long service at The Poynter Institute. Clark has worked full-time at Poynter since 1979 as director of the writing center, dean of the faculty, senior scholar and vice president.

Clark was born in 1948 on the Lower East Side of New York City and raised on Long Island, where he attended Catholic schools. He graduated from Providence College in Rhode Island with a degree in English and earned a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. In 1977 Clark was hired by the St. Petersburg Times to become one of America's first writing coaches. He worked with the American Society of Newspaper Editors to improve newspaper writing nationwide. Because of his work with ASNE, Clark was elected as a distinguished service member, a rare honor for a journalist who has never edited a newspaper.

Clark is the author or editor of 14 books on journalism and writing. These include Free to Write: A Journalist Teaches Young Writers; Coaching Writers: Editors and Reporters Working Together Across Media Platforms; America's Best Newspaper Writing; The Values and Craft of American Journalism; The Changing South of Gene Patterson: Journalism and Civil Rights, 1960–1968; and, most recently, Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer.

Reviews

[Heidi Wiechert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murder Your Darlings is not just another book about writing. It shares the wisdom and creative insights of fifty or so authors, some famous, some not, and some who wrote their own books about the craft.

In his own unique manner, Roy Peter Clark distills the main lessons from each writer and presents them in curated chapters. The chapters are organized into six parts: language and craft, voice and style, confidence and identity, storytelling and character, rhetoric and audience, mission and purpose.

Aspiring or struggling writers can go directly to the issue she may be facing at the moment or read the whole thing to find tips and techniques that fit her emerging efforts best.

Though this may be most useful to writers who have a particular problem in mind, I believe any writer who wants to elevate their work could find something illuminating in these pages.

At the very least, Clark saves writers days of research in locating appropriate writing resources. If you like the brief outline he gives of a writing guide, you could go invest the time to read the whole thing.

Highly recommended for everyone who strings words together or dreams about doing so.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free digital copy of this book.

[Miebara Jato · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful book on writing. A writing book of writing books. Clark curates the ideas from the best writing and style books ever published. Every chapter covers a writing advice from a book and author. And at the end of each chapter is a summarised list of lessons for the reader.

[Max Limpag · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful distillation of great writing books.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow when I saw descriptions of Roy Peter Clark’s new book, Murder Your Darlings, I had the wrong idea of what it is. I guess from the subtitle—“And Other Gentle Writing Advice, from Aristotle to Zinsser”—I’d assumed that this was an anthology of excerpts from popular writing books. That’s not the case. In the book, Clark spends each chapter looking at one or two writing books that have influenced his writing and teaching. There are, of course, selections from those books quoted throughout, but the main content of the book is Clark’s highlighting the main lessons that he has learned from those writers and their books. Like his friend William Zinsser, Clark has an easygoing, conversational writing style, which makes the book a quick and pleasant read (though, also like Zinsser, Clark’s informality at times becomes a bit tedious—but not too often).

The writers he considers, chapter by chapter, include most of the ones you’d expect—Zinsser’s On Writing Well, Strunk and White’s Elements of Style, Anne Lamott, Stephen King, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell—but also writers and books I hadn’t heard of but immediately added to my to-read list. The guidance Clark gleans from each of these sources is wide-ranging, and though he structures Murder Your Darlings into six themed sections (Language and Craft, Voice and Style, Confidence and Identity, Storytelling and Character, Rhetoric and Audience, Mission and Purpose), it’s hard to see the chapters falling into neat categories like that (which is what you might guess, seeing that Clark was unable to settle on just one word for any of the six themes).

This book would be great for undergrad, and probably for high school, writing courses. For me, it was a worthwhile burst of encouragement and learning, even though I’ve spent much time reading books about writing. That there’s nothing particularly “new” about the content only affirms that the age-old lessons about good writing don’t change very much.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here are a couple of things that stood out to me:

(1) Chapter 7: Vary sentence length
"This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It's like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals-sounds that say listen to this, it is important.

So write with a combination of short, medium, and long sentences. Create a sound that pleases the reader's ear. Don't just write words. Write music."

What a beautiful passage! I love the self-referentiality.

(2) Chapter 11: Learn the steps of the writing process
"Before you master the requirements of your particular genre, understand the steps of the writing process all writers all writers must climb: finding story ideas, gathering the material you need, discovering a focus, selecting your best stuff, envisioning a structure, building a draft, revising all parts of the process over time. For each step, you can find strategies that will help you solve problems and make meaning."

What a nice overview of the writing process for any project, fiction or non-fiction, for a general audience or an internal company memo. The steps are the same.


In general, it's a motley bag of writing tips without any overall theme. Nothing really too shocking, if you read these kind of books, you've probably heard of most of these before.

But you might see a couple of things you haven't seen before, and some of them are pretty amusing.

[Sandra Hutchison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a sort of "greatest hits" survey of writing guides, which makes it handy for getting the lay of the land out there in the world of writing advice for both fiction and nonfiction. It's clever and insightful and if you're a writer or an aspiring writer, I recommend it to you. I'd say it's about evenly split between fiction and nonfiction in terms of applicability and ranges from process to philosophy to technique. The author is a journalist, but also a great reader and educated in literature. As a former Florida girl, I enjoyed the references to places like Haslem's used bookstore in St. Pete, and even the Poynter Institute. (Back in my days on the Clearwater High School student newspaper, it was our mecca.) Those were not the only points of overlap, either, since I taught writing and took a graduate workshop with Don Murray at UNH. He gets a very nice and well-deserved chapter here.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murder Your Darlings is an incredibly creative handbook for teachers, students, novelist, playwriters, and seemingly all writers alike. Clark has gathered his "hall-of-fame" writing guides covering 2,399 years of teachings. A writing book about writing books seemed like an abstract idea, but it was beautifully composed into six parts, my favorite and most highlighted being Part III: Confidence and Identity. This book is one to be read many times over, and not to be rushed. The information is GOLD.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just a book with mini-reviews of other books? I’m not sure who this would be for. It’s almost a memoir of the author through books that were important to him with random questions/exercises at the end of each chapter. Boring and very unhelpful.

[Oana Filip · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first time I came across this book's name was reading the handbook of a creative writing workshop. The second time was during a podcast with a journalist I respect. The third time, we got the chance to meet in person, so to speak. In other words: I bought it and read it in a breath of the air.

Peter Clark's writing style is engaging, witty, funny, and insightful at once. That's a great selling point in itself, right? In the end, this reading is addressing people like me: storytellers on a road of continuous evolution.

Long story short, the author spoke my mind and highlighted multiple occasions (he also offered plenty of solid arguments) that it's time to stop showing off with your writing. Leave those fancy words aside. Avoid the posh figures of speech. Get rid of trying to sound smart.

The best storytellers out there are the best listeners. And the best listeners are those of us who overcame the need to show off. They're serving the reader. Beautiful lecture!

[Barbara Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder Your Darlings is not a detective mystery or true crime drama.

Murder Your Darlings is writing advice. You see it a lot in writing circles these days, but it originally came from Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, a British author and professor (known as Q, not to be confused with the WWII spy-gadget-maker). This phrase was first delivered in a lecture to his students in 1914 which was later published. In context, he said, “Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it—whole-heartedly—and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings” (p. 17).

Roy Peter Clark interprets Q’s advice thus: “Ask yourself, ‘Am I including this because it provides the reader with a memorable and delightful piece of evidence to prove the point of my text? Or is it beside the point even though it reveals what a good wordsmith I am?'” (p. 21).

In other words, the phrase, sentence, or paragraph that’s the most precious to you, but doesn’t really add anything to your thesis, must go. Clark opines that you don’t have to “commit verbicide on the words you love the most” (p. 17). You can save them in a file for another day.

Clark, known as “America’s writing coach,” shares advice from over 50 other writing sources in Murder Your Darlings: And Other Gentle Writing Advice from Aristotle to Zinsser. Clarks says, “I am not trying to steal their thunder. I am trying, instead, to amplify it, to pay back my debt to the authors who shaped my craft” (p. 8).

Some of these books are filled with writing advice, and Clark pulls out a lesson or two to discuss. “Most of what you will read here is why I appreciate them, what I or others have learned from them, and what I think you, the reader, can take away and apply to your own work” (p. 23).

Clark begins each chapter with a “toolbox,” a brief summary of the particular principle or writing instruction he’s going to discuss. Then he’ll give a little background about the work he is drawing from, the author, illustrations of the writing advice under consideration, whether he agrees or disagrees and to what extent. He ends each chapter with a short list of “Lessons” summarizing the main points of the chapter.

Clark’s book is quite readable. The Lessons at the end are particularly helpful to remind oneself of the salient tips from a chapter. Some of the writers he quotes from are well-known, others are not.

This is a secular book, and there are words I wouldn’t use and situations and philosophies I wouldn’t agree with. But I found it fairly easy to sidestep those things just to glean the writing advice.

Clark’s book will help you hone your craft by sharing wisdom with you from sources that you might not have found yet. And the sources he quotes might inspire you to look up the authors’ original works.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I selected Murder Your Darlings to read mainly because I liked the title, and Roy Peter Clark would approve--one of the first things we learn as writers is that every choice we make is important, from the title, to the layout, to the way we use words. This book, organized as an overview of different books on writing, showcases hundreds of tips on writing book by dozens of writers. Writers and teachers of writing will recognize many of the names in this book, and I found myself wandering down memory lane to my first semester as a composition teacher when I was marinated daily in the wisdom of Don Murray and Peter Elbow.

The layout of the book is pretty straightforward: each chapter features a different writing guide and begins with a toolbox, which is an overview of the top writing tip(s) of that guide. Then, a discussion follows where Clark discusses the highlights of the guide interspersed with anecdotes from his own writing life and interesting information about the author, and finally the chapter closes with three or four lessons that sum up the main takeaway of the chapter.

This is a good reference book, especially for those who are newer to writing and want to know where they should start. However, I've been a writing teacher for over a decade, and I found myself jotting down lots of notes (I actually used one analogy on structure the next day in class; thanks John McPhee!) and putting several of these books on my Amazon wish list. It's not a book that you need to read all at once and in order, but it's a good book for anyone interested in writing to add to their shelf.

[Jay Rothermel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A culling of wisdoms about composition from about 200 years of working writers thinking about and writing on the subject.

N.B. I've been stumped on a book review for several weeks, but after two hours listening to this book, sentences for a "zero draft" started free-associating out of my unconscious.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give this book 3.5 stars. "Kill your darlings" is a common advice given to writers. The author thinks "Murder your darlings" sounds better, hence the title of his book and the subtle pretentiousness throughout his book. He is either praising or putting down other writers. I prefer Stephen King's "On Writing" and Annie Lamott's "Bird by Bird."

[Jared Mcnabb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A writing book about other writing books. Perhaps a quirky idea, but it was a great distillation of the best ideas that the writer had learned from others over the years learning his craft.

Not only were there useful ideas and tips, but it also stimulated a desire to write and write well.

[Susanna]

Ths is a good source for getting a wide range of condensed writing guides from basically all genres and all types of writers. Also Idk why I’ve formed a weird emotional attachment to the old man who wrote this like why is he so sweet lfndjjd. Like I was actually crushed when I looked up his favorite st petes bookstore that he said has been his favorite place his whole life and it was PERMANENTLY CLOSED. Anyway I keep reading craft books as a way to avoid working on my manuscript so this is gonna be the last one for a while …

[Khira · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is some excellent advice in this book, as well as interesting accounts of other authors. I struggled with the somewhat random structuring of information and detours into personal anecdotes though.

[Sydney Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very different and I loved it. Almost like an in depth chapter-by-chapter writing book review, topic by topic, with a somewhat historical view. This is what makes it unusual and just what the doctor ordered.

[Jess Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m pretty new and therefore pretty overwhelmed by the writing world. I wanted a book that would gently ease me into some practical writing advice and this book did exactly that.
The tone is playful and quite complex ideas have been explained clearly with lessons for you to try out on your own.
It references pretty much every worth while writing expects advice so is a great book to read if your starting out and need a who’s who of the writing world.
Really enjoyed this book

[Ryan Trauman · Rating 4 out of 5]

For aspiring writers (like me), this book is a fantastic buffet of writing advice. You'll likely find it satisfying to cherry pick advice from your favorite writers, or to skip each chapter that doesn't align with you existing practices. But it will serve you well to read every chapter, one at a time, between your own regular writing practice. It will inevitably affect your process in some way.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book could have been a really good one.  In many ways, the approach of this book is a sound one, providing plenty of personal stories about writing and the author's own background while also pointing the reader to a great many guides for writing that span over the wide range of history and that demonstrate the wit and wisdom from a wide variety of writers who have sought to teach and guide others into writing better.  For the most part, I found this book to be enjoyable and instructive, with only a few problems.  But as the book went on, I found the author's approach less and less enjoyable, especially as it became evident that the author was trying to carve out a space for the sort of behavior that biased contemporary journalists engage in but do not want to consider as illegitimate and blameworthy.  Ultimately, the fact that the author is a journalist and apparently a fairly ordinary one as far as it goes nowadays means that as this book went on and the author felt it desirable to defend his profession and that is something that I wasn't willing to go along with, which decreased my enjoyment of the book towards the end considerably.

This book is a bit more than 300 pages and is divided into six parts and 32 chapters, some of which deal with more than one writing guide.  The author begins with five essays on language and craft (I) that discuss getting rid of precious words (1), cutting clutter (2), learning to live inside words (3), shaping a sentence for effect (4), and working from a plan (5).  The author then looks at matters of voice and style (II), including the tensions inherent within style (6), varying sentence length (7), using visual markings to spark creativity (8), tuning one's voice to the digital age (9), and adjusting one's sound (10).  Then comes some essays on confidence and identity (III) that focus on the steps of the writing process (11), persistence (12), free writing (13), identifying as a writer (14), and developing the habit of writing (15).  Six essays deal with storytelling and character (IV), including understanding the value of storytelling (16), preferring the complex character (17), writing for sequence then theme (18), distilling a story simply (19), adding dimension to characters (20), and reporting for story (21).  After that the author praises attention to rhetoric and audience (V) with essays on anticipating readers' needs (22), embracing the power of rhetoric (23), influencing the emotional response of the audience (24), signing a social contract with the reader (25), and writing a bit above the level of the reader (26).  Finally, the author discusses mission and purpose (VI), with essays on strategies for reporting reliably (27), writing to grow one's soul (28), writing to delight and instruct (29), seeking to become the eyes and ears of the audience (30), choosing advocacy over propaganda, as if they were different (31), and being a writer and more (32).  The book then ends with the usual afterword, acknowledgements, an appendix on books by the author, bibliography, and index.

In the end, this is a book whose reception depends on one's view of contemporary journalism.  The author makes it explicitly clear that he believes there is a legitimate place in journalism for positive propaganda that he labels as advocacy even as he demonizes official propaganda that he labels as illegitimate.  Yet the advocacy of contemporary journalism, which the author probably engages in himself given some of the comments in this book, is clearly just as wicked as the propaganda he condemns for belonging to fascistic regimes.  The author's framing leads one to believe in a certain double standard that makes this book impossible to wholeheartedly enjoy or recommend.  It would have been far better had the author not been a part of the corrupt contemporary journalistic establishment, but knowing his obvious filters and biases and worldview errors does explain so much of what is wrong with a lot of contemporary writing.  The author wants to condemn people like John McPhee for his privilege but doesn't see how privileged he is as a writer himself, and this lack of self-awareness pervades the book as a whole, to the detriment of my appreciation of the author's supposed wisdom.

[Terry Freedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have come across quite a few books that give writing advice from the "great writers". Often, the book is full of soundbites that might look interesting in a tweet, and perhaps even be useful in themselves. However, writers cannot live by soundbites alone.

This book plugs that obvious gap by writing about the advice within a broader context, and from a personal perspective.

For example, one of the questions that nonfiction writers ask is: is it ok to add fictional elements to a story if it's broadly true? Some say absolutely not. Some say yes, as long at it's not a key component of the narrative. But Roy Peter Clark takes a far more nuanced look at the question, citing from authors who want us to be transparent with our readers.

The book covers language, voice, audience and other aspects of writing. It draws on a wide variety of authors, including one of my favourites, Gay Talese, Stephen King (of course!) and Orwell. Each chapter concludes with lessons, which contain several questions. One I especially like is this:

Ask yourself, “Am I including this because it provides the reader with a memorable and delightful piece of evidence to prove the point of my text? Or is it beside the point even though it reveals what a good wordsmith I am?”.

This is a highly readable collection of good advice from the great writers, with commentary by someone who is himself both a writer and a teacher of writing.

[a · Rating 4 out of 5]

was good, and very useful!



pros:
- advice was super accessible & organized:
- chapters were separated by sections with an overall ‘theme’ or site for improvement/advice.
- at the end of each chapter there was a summary of all the lessons.
- advice was super helpful
- compiling advice from OTHER WRITING BOOKS!!!genius! it’s like a 3-in-1 shampoo! but like 50 instead.
- all the best parts of other writing books: makes it so easy to find the next one to read
- interesting history & facts on other authors
- title & cover is great. someone thought i was reading a how-to-murder; kept up my reputation, thank you mr. clark
- apparently a good conversation starter w people in the passport office???
- probably going to buy my own copy






cons:
- author talked way too much about personal opinions. micheal i don’t care what you think about homosexuality i just want to know where you put your commas.
- i mean, i agreed with almost everything he said but please summarize that to a paragraph next time.
- longest i’ve ever spent reading a book.
- library staff are out to get me this is so overdue. the fine is prob going to be higher than my bank acc balance.
- made me feel 50% more boring. science teacher asked what i was reading, i told him and he visibly looked disappointed. sorry it isn’t STARWARS chris!!!!

[Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good book about writing. The nice thing about this one? Roy Peter Clark has read a ton of writing books for the reader and distilled them into precise pieces of advice. Each chapter is a summary of why Peter Clark enjoys the selected writing book he pulls the tip from, and bulleted takeaways at the end. Roy Peter Clark explains writing in a way that is just so easy. It's accessible and not bogged down by technicalities (though the books the writing comes from sometimes is). There is a certain joy about the mere exposure of all the books that instill a sense of opportunity and curiosity. My favorite piece of advice: each period at the end of sentence is a stop sign. So, write shorter sentences. Especially at the points of greatest complexity. Read this book if you are interested in writing. Or reading about writing. Or both.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good look at books about writing

I regard this book as a sampler of writing books. Roy Peter Clark takes these writing books and adds his own take on them. It is a great way to be introduced to a variety of writers and how they work. Given Clark’s credentials and expertise, I have no doubt that these are indeed good books for writers or want-to-be writers to read. I appreciated how Clark incorporated his own experiences into the book and how he showed his good sense of humor.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.

[La Femme Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book started off a bit slow for my taste, it's actually a great resource for an aspiring writer. Not only does the author boil down some of the best writing advice in the business, he also contextualizes that advice with easy to understand examples. I highly recommend this book as a resource for aspiring writers, especially if a writer wants to really zero in on the most important things to consider in constructing a story. An inspiring first resource for those thinking about writing a book.

[Dominic Howarth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roy Peter Clark is, arguably, one of the best writers on the craft that is publishing today, so to hear his insights on what makes a good 'book on writing' is a great look behind the veil at the artform and practice of storytelling. Personally, I would have liked to spend more time with each book and have LESS of a selection, and because I have read his other work, I didn't feel like anything new was necessarily brought to the table. Having said that, I still highly enjoyed spending time with my favorite writing teacher again, and there were still plenty notes for me to write down.

[Chris Boutté · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't remember how I came across Clark's work, but I'm glad I did. This is the first book I've read by him, and he seems like an excellent writing coach. This book has a ton of great tips for all writers. As a non-fiction writer, there was one section that was solely dedicated to fiction, but I was still able to pull some nuggets of wisdom. I'm trying to become a better storyteller, so I definitely didn't mind that chapter.

[Nettles · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent catalog of famous writing books with a nice summary at the end of each chapter.

I felt the author's side commentary sometimes bogged down the messages (I'm not interested in the stamp that was found on the inside of his particular copy of the book or about the mild connection he has with the author of another book) but I think this is a good reference to get a taste of existing advice and see what is worth diving deeper into.

[Paul C. Stalder · Rating 4 out of 5]

An outstanding crash course to books about writing. In each chapter, Clark presents a book about writing, explores some major points, and leaves you with some takeaways. The chapters are easy to understand, while being information packed. Whether used as a source in and of itself, or as a resource for books about writing, Clark has written a must-read for writers of all shapes and sizes, from fiction to journalistic to academic.

[Daniel Gaddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard not to compare all the books Clark writes to Writing Tools, which is the best book on writing ever, in my humble opinion. Murder Your Darlings doesn't reach that level, but it's incredibly useful. It's perfect for someone who's already read Writing Tools and is interested in more books of the same caliber. Who better than Clark to send you down the right path?