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Many editors subscribe to William Faulkner’s famous advice that a writer should “kill her darlings,” ie. delete turns of phrase to which she is particularly attached. The rationale behind this bit of wisdom is that most times, the writer becomes attached to a word or phrase because she thinks it is especially literary or beautiful, not because it meshes and belongs so well in the piece. In fact, if a sentence does not mesh or move the piece of writing forward, it does not belong. But there are other remedies for this problem than cutting. 

Another way to think of the problem is that a darling is a sentence, phrase, or word the author wants to do more work than it possibly can. While the phrase might be a wonderful lead sentence for a supporting paragraph, it will not be clear on its own. So, when I suspect an author I’m working with has written a darling, my philosophy is to consider whether it should be put out to pasture or expanded and given some help saying what it wants to say. While I do agree with Faulkner’s advice in many instances, I also think it important for an author to enjoy writing and feel free to wax literary from time to time. I do not equate the best writing with the most conservative; even though some risks will fail, only risk takers ever become great artists. 

I suggest an alternate handle to Faulkner’s: If you love your darlings, don’t overwork them. Give them the family and friends they need to thrive.