Killing Your Darlings

As I move through the editing stage of Godsend, there are times when I have a decision to make: To cut a scene or line that I truly love but has no place in the story, or to leave it in and try to work around it somehow.

I've come to two scenes where the main character - Christine - meets her soulmate - Daniel - in a bookstore. Each time, she's looking for books (the first time it's for a gift, the second, it's for a book she herself needs). But because of the changes, these scenes will have to be cut and then re-written. There are two reasons for this.

The first is that a major plot line has been excised from the story (or is being excised), which means Christine's behavior toward Daniel will change. The other reason is that Daniel is something of a wimp in these parts of the story. He reacts when he should act.

But there are some good lines in those scenes, especially from Christine. She's assertive, especially in the second scene, and that's part of her story arc. She has to go from something of a wallflower to an actor in her own life, and in those scenes she begins to. But who would be attracted to a wimp, or a guy who was a reactor? I suppose it's possible, but mutual action would be better for the story.

I suppose years from now I might look back and what I'd cut and think that it was all crap and it deserved to be cut out. Or I could wonder what possessed me to cut it in the first place. Looking at it right now, some of those lines might be darlings, but they need to be killed.