My writing mentor told me to kill my favorite character...

Back in March, my writing group mentor said I needed to cut the main character's best friend in chapter 3 because she was 'distracting from the plot.' I argued with her for 20 minutes over it... but after I finally did it, the whole story suddenly clicked into place. The pacing got tighter and the beta readers actually finished it for once. Has anyone else had advice they fought against that turned out to be totally right?

3 comments

3 Comments

michael6931mo ago

My buddy Dave had this same thing happen with his detective novel. He was dead set on keeping this quirky side character that cracked jokes during every interrogation scene. He dropped the guy after his editor insisted and suddenly his main detective actually felt like a real person instead of a straight man for jokes.

james5331mo ago

Bet Dave learned real quick that a funny sidekick can be a crutch instead of a helping hand in a story.

the_lisa12d ago

Sidekicks being a crutch" is a good way to put it. Did your buddy Dave say what made him finally realize the sidekick was hurting the story instead of helping it? I'm curious if it was a specific scene or just a gut feeling after the editor pointed it out.