Episode 33: Nothing But Blackened Teeth and How To Get Away With Murder

Clutch your pearls, children, it's another Crow Episode. Yes, it's true, ten million years later Crow has crawled out of her pile of decomposing leaves and blueberries to bring us the harrowing tale of a bunch of frenemies who join forces to teach us everything about killing your darlings. Today we're talking Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw, a book with an eye catching premise and stunning descriptions. Yet--something wasn't sitting quite right with Crow as she worked her way through it. As these descriptions stacked up, a nagging piece of writing advice that Crow had long since packed into the furthest corners of her mind came crawling back: Kill Your Darlings. Should we really gut our writing of everything that makes it special to us? Should we trim our favorite characters, the descriptions we're most proud of, the scenes that give our novel life? Tune in as Crow and Fern revisit this controversial piece of writing advice along the fusuma of Heian era mansion, and the bones of a jilted bride and all her ghostly servant girls. Social Media Accounts: Instagram: crowandfernsguide TikTok: crow_and_ferns_guide Twitter: @Crow_and_fern Tumblr: CrowandFern Email: [email protected] References:  Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively by Rebecca Mcclanahan