Contrary to what this might sound like, this post is not
actually about killing babies. It’s a metaphor. (For those of you who have an
obsession with dead babies, I apologize).
This is a phrase that one of my professors in my final year
of undergrad told us in class. It was a class on feature writing, and he said
that as journalists – or even just writers – sometimes the hardest thing we
have to do is learn to kill our babies.
[Stop picturing dead babies. Just stop]
What he meant by that is during the research process, we
often stumble across these mindblowing quotes or amazing statistics and bits of
information that we feel just needs to be part of our article. Even while
writing the initial drafts, we will write certain paragraphs that sound almost
perfect. And then there’ll be a knock on our door, and we open it to find a rather
annoying visitor: the word limit.
Now, for us carefree writers who write just for the sake of
writing, this means nothing. But when you’re writing for a newspaper or
magazine, there are major constraints on your space and word count. And so,
when you realize that your wonderful article has gone way beyond the given word
limit, you’re left with only one choice: start killing your babies.
Pick up that quote that’s so mindblowing, and ask yourself
whether it is really adding anything to the story. Look carefully at those
amazing statistics and see whether they are really relevant to the overall
point you are trying to make. And go back to that almost perfect paragraph and
see whether it is really needed to convey the larger point of your article.
And if the answer to any of those questions is negative or
even a little doubtful – kill them. Kill your babies.
[Again, I feel the need to reiterate that I am not actually advocating
killing real babies…Just in case you were planning to send me hate mail with
the subject ‘baby killer’]
And if you think about it, this advice applies not just to
writing, but to almost all aspects of our lives (except perhaps parenting).
When you need to make a tough choice, check your priorities first. Figure out
what’s most important to you, and let everything else slide past. If what you
really want is to go for a vacation in order to relax, then perhaps stressing
out over small details is not a helpful approach. If being healthy has top
priority for you, then just throw the cake aside. If you really just want to
spend time with your friends, then pause the TV show that you’re watching and
actually step out of your house.
I know, it’s all easier said than done. Nobody said it would
be easy. You’re giving up stuff that you really care about – and that’s
precisely why it’s called killing your babies.
Try it sometime. It’s good advice.
And now that I’ve enlightened all of you with this ultra-bright
piece of wisdom, I’m going to get back to my assignment and continue trying to
kill some babies there.
