Murder Your Darlings

And Other Gentle Writing Advice from Aristotle to Zinsser

By: Roy Peter Clark

Narrated by: Jefferson Mays

From one of America's most influential teachers, a collection of the best writing advice distilled from fifty language books -- from Aristotle to Strunk and White.

With so many excellent writing guides lining bookstore shelves, it can be hard to know where to look for the best advice. Should you go with Natalie Goldberg or Anne Lamott? Maybe William Zinsser or Stephen King would be more appropriate. Then again, what about the classics -- Strunk and White, or even Aristotle himself?

Thankfully, your search is over. In Murder Your Darlings, Roy Peter Clark, who has been a beloved and revered writing teacher to children and Pulitzer Prize winners alike for more than thirty years, has compiled a remarkable collection of more than 100 of the best writing tips from fifty of the best writing books of all time.

With a chapter devoted to each key strategy, Clark expands and contextualizes the original author's suggestions and offers anecdotes about how each one helped him or other writers sharpen their skills. An invaluable resource for writers of all kinds, Murder Your Darlings is an inspiring and edifying ode to the craft of writing.

Critic reviews

"What emerges is an all-encompassing guide to a life spent with words...Reading Clark is like sitting in on a conversational master class. Writer-readers will clamor for more."
—Courtney Eathorne, Booklist

"A party-popper of inspiration."
—Mignon Fogarty, author of Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

"With his latest work, Murder Your Darlings, Roy Peter Clark once again proves he is America's writing coach. Having compiled, dissected, and analyzed the best writing tips from the best books on writing, Clark has done all lovers of the written word a tremendous favor. Murder Your Darlings is sure to become the go-to source, not only for writing tips but also for Clark's unique insight and practical instruction. A terrific addition to any bookshelf."
—Lori Roy, two-time Edgar award-winning author of Gone Too Long

"This book is magic. Open any page of Murder Your Darlings and dive in. You'll quickly find yourself pulled into Roy Peter Clark's folksy and gentle voice, and his distillation of the wisdom of more than 50 writing books. Through this appreciation, he opens the door to writing books ancient and modern, and to scores of inspiring strategies and tools. He zeroes in on the craft, but also the soul of writing -- our voice and identity as writers, as well as our mission and purpose. Along the way, 'America's Writing Coach' encourages us with his greatest lesson -- that we can all get better, every day. I am in love with Murder Your Darlings. This is the book I want to give to every writer."
—Diana K. Sugg, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, and Writing Coach and Enterprise Editor at The Baltimore Sun

"I met Roy Peter Clark over forty years ago, when the Pulitzer-winning editor of the St. Petersburg Times, Eugene C. Patterson, himself an elegant stylist, hired Roy as one of the first "writing coaches" in a large American newsroom. Roy not only improved the literary quality of an already fluent newspaper, he helped invent the profession of journalistic coaching. Murder Your Darlings sums up the best wisdom of a discipline in which Roy was a pioneer and remains a star."
—Howell Raines, author of Fly Fishing Through the Midlife Crisis

I have been reading sense I could,

I have been reading sense I could, from comic books , magazines, and then books, and I always wondered how this people do it, how do they have this stories in their heads, I get to visit them. Great book thank you

Well done.

Not sure why there would be any negative reviews on this book. I found it interesting, enlightening, and thought provoking. In my mind, these are all the things you should reflect on, and have in your arsenal, as you objectively look at your own writing.

Much More Than I Expected

A longtime student of writing books who writes writing books delivers the best of writing advice from the past 3,000 years. Exceptionally well researched with a lively delivery, a perfect blend of erudition, humor, and useful information.

So good

I’ve listened to this gem twice, and will surely be back many more times. Mr. Clark has written something important here; something that will endure and live on.

Loved This SO Much.!

_Murder Your Darlings_ is one of the newest additions to the Writing Life. Filled with fantastic information and quotes from dozens of writers throughout history, I've never read anything so comprehensive... and I have read a LOT of writing books; it is my favorite tactic towards procrastination of my own writing.

This addressed the other writers' foibles and even evils, but embraced the great information they imparted. As many have said, great art has been created from the most abhorrent people who ever lived.

That Clark was able to recount so many incredible writers and their most profound thoughts and advice is a tribute to his book collection and power of retention. He said he still had 100 books to go through and I really hope he will do a _Murder Your Darlings 2_.

If you are an aspiring writer or a writer of bestsellers, I believe all of us can find great information in this book.