Everyone has a strong opinion about killing off characters, and I’m no exception. I think that if done right, killing of a character can increase the stakes and add to the realism of a story.
In a war or a struggle if no one ever dies I think that the risk is lost. If I know everyone is always going to be okay, than it isn’t nearly as exciting. I like when they die on stage, so to speak, when it is mentioned afterwards it doesn’t have the same impact.
A death has to fit the tone of the rest of the book. It can come as a surprise, but it should still fit the mood of the story. When someone dies it should be important to the plot and change things, so there’s a reason behind the death. The main character has to be affected, so that the death affects the readers. If the reader doesn’t care what happens to the characters than I’m doing my job.
Some people think that for it to be happily ever after no one can die, but I disagree, look at how many characters die in Disney movies.
Death can’t be undone, or shouldn’t be, unless it is a book about the undead, so be certain before deciding to kill a character. They have to die for a reason, which is true to the character and the rest of the story. Don't kill for the sake of having a character die for shock value or to prove a point, like war is bad.
Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Game of Thrones, lots of big name authors are killing off characters, but that doesn’t mean that we should follow suit. Every author is different and should do what they think is best for their story. That’s the great part about being the writer. We get to decide who lives and who dies.
What is you think about authors killing off their characters? Have you killed anyone? (In your writing, of course)
I admit it, I have a bad habit of killing my characters. Like you, I believe it has to fit the story, but sometimes I get too irritated with a character and end up killing them off. Most of the time this is fortuitous, but it also leads me down a bad path of trouble. I guess I need to be more careful with the people in my head!
ReplyDeletehaha. There's nothing wrong with that, especially if you have a large cast of characters. I hope some of your main characters manage to survive. ;)
ReplyDeleteI write different versions playing around with ideas. What would happen if so and so died? There are only two characters that are safe, the rest... it depends on the day.
Yes, and not because I want to, but because the story demands it.
ReplyDeleteSome of the deaths are shocking, others are merely sad. They all have lasting effects on my main character, revealing different sides to her. Eventually how she processes each of the deaths show the ongoing development of her character.
But still, there was one death I just couldn't bring myself to write. I loved that character just too much. So I changed the story so he didn't die but all the other things I planned for the main character happened. And it lead to a very interesting and productive permutation in the story line. So sometimes death for characters is not the answer.
I'm glad to hear one of your characters got a reprieve. It's so much harder to write the death of a character you really like. I never know too far ahead of time which character isn't going to make it or I make them less likable.
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