Two sides of the 'kill your darlings' debate - do you save deleted scenes or trash them?

I was in my writing nook last Tuesday after deleting 3 pages of a noir detective scene that just felt flat, and I wonder if keeping a graveyard file helps or just clutters your head. Do you hold onto every cut piece or burn it and move on?

2 comments

2 Comments

jennifer_west4d ago

Used to be all for deleting cuts for good, but a buddy convinced me to save them and now I've pulled bits from old scenes that fit way better in new projects.

troy9774d ago

Right, so now I'm just a digital hoarder with a 3TB drive of deleted scenes I'll "get to one day." It's the same energy as my closet full of clothes I swear I'll fit into again after the holidays. But hey, can't argue with results when that one throwaway line from a year ago suddenly saves your whole current project. Just don't let your buddy talk you into keeping every single one, that's how you end up with a bloated folder and zero actual progress. Your mileage may vary, but I'm still salty about the time I spent three hours hunting for a clip that wasn't even worth keeping in the first place.