Writing Is Ruthless

I murdered adverbs and buried them in unmarked graves yesterday as I finished editing my newest short story.  Writing is ruthless.  It’s not enough to create a story.  You have to attack it like a gunslinger and kill off the parts of it that are flabby and useless.  It can be quite a bloody process–and painful as well.  Still,  it must be done.  The writing world is a jungle and will not tolerate shoddy works.  The more ruthless you are as an editor, the better you will be as a writer.  If you want an easy job, don’t write. To be a good writer you should be your own harshest critic.  To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, from time to time the tree of writing must be watered with the blood of adverbs.  And, so too, must certain adjectives be blown away.  Welcome to the slaughterhouse of the creative process. Do I as a writer have blood on my hands?  Very well then, I have blood on my hands. Does not a midwife have blood on her hands?