Murder Your Darlings (contributors wanted!)

I'm looking for angels and demons (and anyone in between) to contribute to Murder Your Darlings: a sacrifical altar upon which we can cast our trunked first novels!

What is Murder Your Darlings?

I created this blog as a tool for both advanced and beginner writers. I’m encouraging writers to dig out their first manuscript – you know the one, it’s gathering dust in the closet of the spare room – and to submit a scene of up to 1000 words from the novel, along with their comments. The author’s comments might cover any of the following:

• What worked in the piece;
• What didn’t work in the piece;
• Technical errors, such as spelling, punctuation and grammar faults;
• Craft errors, such as too much telling or confusing dialogue; and
• If the author is feeling particularly energetic (!), a rewrite to reflect how the author would create the same piece today

I'm hoping this will become a valuable tool for writers, both new and experienced. Contributors will also get the chance to get their name "out there", promote their writer's blog, promote a published book/their upcoming book publication.


If you are a writer, I would love you to contribute. Check out the blog here. Instructions on how to contribute are at the bottom of the blog page, or go ahead and PM me for more details.

**Seriously, if you're thinking "but my first ever novel STINKS" - don't worry, that's the whole point. The great part is we get to show ourselves and others what marvellous writers we have become, from our humble beginnings

Just to reiterate: I'm looking for pieces from completed novels (or partially completed novels) that will never see the light of day - don't include anything you are querying, or will query in the future.

Hi everybody!


Today, Murder Your Darlings features Patricia Farnan, murdering one of her early stories. Have a look at it here.


Carolyn Arnold will Murder part of her early novel Life Sentence on Friday, so don't forget to check that out.


Murder Your Darlings is always looking for guest contributors. Anyone is welcome to contribute their old work with comments about how they would change it. Don’t be shy – the whole point is to see how much we’ve improved on our early work.
Send me a PM, or follow the How To Contribute instructions on the Murder Your Darlings site.

... Carolyn Arnold's post is now up, where she demonstrates what she would now change about the opening scene of an early work, Life Sentence. Pop over for a look.