Writing Quote, January 27, 2010 — “Just Like Killing a Child”

Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it.
— Truman Capote

www.inkthinkerblog.com — Capote’s comment is blunt, but he’s not the only one to speak of writing in violent terms. William Faulkner advised writers, “Kill your darlings.”

As someone who’s been working on the same book (more or less) since I was 15, I’m speaking from personal experience when I tell you that I think there’s something incredibly appealing about writing a book and less so about having written a book. That’s why so many authors make the writing process soooooooo long and drawn-out: We don’t want to say goodbye.

Do we feel cold and heartless for turning our backs on our books, for leaving our characters alone in the world? Do writers suffer from a bit of empty nest syndrome?

What would happen to you if you finished that manuscript, be it a book or an article? Would you be less of a writer, more of a writer, or exactly the same amount of writer you were while you were still torturing yourself with the endless process of writing it?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

– Kristen

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