To be a good writer, sometimes the only solution is murder.

Write every word down, and then strike out the parts that dazzle by themselves, but unbalance the work as a whole.

After reading the first block of tiny text in 2003 University alumnus Darrell Kinsey’s first novella “Honeywood,” I wondered if any one had ever told him this well-known writing advice.

On every page, he drowns his readers in detail, flooding every scene with the minutia of obscure observations and long-winded descriptions.

He describes a camera as having “an elongated snout of lens” and clouds as “violent within and bruised by an air on purple fire, issued down concentrated tendrils of corded lightning that dragged the surface of the water, stinging and sizzling it to an instant boil, and its hanging haul was a dark drape of rain that [well, you get the point.]”

Even the dialogue fails to delight. At least it doesn’t read like a continual run-on sentence.

Kinsey, who did take several creative writing classes as a student at the University, said he likes descriptive writing and edits his own work.

“I’m slow at thinking and looking around,” he said. “I see a lot of things most people don’t.”

His section about a scuba diving excursion, which he said he based on his own time in St. Thomas and Panama City, Fla., is a prime example of the poetic insight he brings to his work.

The story in “Honeywood” has possibilities – a boy working at a beach resort in the summer discovers a beautiful girl who hangs out with notorious drug dealers.He wants to rescue her, but he’s not sure whether she wants or needs any help.

The plot is so tame, I almost want Kinsey to inject some sexuality into the work as he did in his book of poems “Torsino,” published in April of this year.

“I like stories that are not necessarily plot driven,” he said, pointing to novelist John Steinbeck’s work as a major influence during the four months it took him to write “Honeywood.”

Kinsey’s writing style shies away from excitement like waves rushing back to the ocean, leaving small shells for readers to pick up and put together themselves.

Kinsey’s character named Kyle breezes through the novella, a static man engaging in only minor action.

Honey, the girl Kyle spots through the trees one day, is as sweet as her name, but her character doesn’t stick to anything.

Instead, she naively becomes involved with criminals without a clue of what activities they engage in.

“She’s doing whatever she needs to to fit the moment,” Kinsey said about Honey’s personality traits.

His novella is wrapped up too tightly in too many layers.

It should strip down and proudly claim its identity.