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How do you know when it's right to kill off a character?

I'm in the middle of my first novel length story. I thought I had it all figured out with who was going to die and what was going to happen, but I feel like the story is taking on its own mind and path. I'm now at the perfect point for a character to die from a self sacrifice angle for the greater good, only I didn't want her to die...I like her, but if she were to die, I could pass on her future role to someone else easily. The story would still work. So I'm wondering, how do you guys plan your deaths and do they ever take on a mind of their own? Any advice you could give on writing deaths into a story would be great, thanks!

by Gabriella NoName | Apr 20th 2014, 21:22


  • I know exactly what you mean! Deaths might be a big part of part of my story (Necromancer's Curse) but unexpected ones happen all the time. Sometimes they're permanent, other times they just get up again...assuming your story isn't about magic, I think it's okay to have deaths anywhere if it's meaningful. Especially if the dead person made a sacrifice or taught others a lesson.

    I once saw a TV show where the main character promised a friend that she would be okay, and wouldn't die. She died anyway, and the character was depressed. But then he found a note that she left before she died, saying that she wasn't afraid of it and that she didn't want him to blame himself. She also left a recording of her singing him a song as a symbol.

    It might go off well if you have a little kid in there, to comfort the deceased's friends. The kid might get themself into lots of trouble, or the main characters have to look out for them. This way the characters can get their minds off of their dead friend.

    You can also make the character traumatized or otherwise incapacitated by the sacrifice in a way that demoralizes the others. I don't know if that's what you had in mind, it's just a suggestion. The character might get up again at the end.

    One last thing (sorry about the long comment) if you like the character and need to kill her off, you can try to have another character based off of her, maybe the kid, in the same story or another one.

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    David Boyce | April 21, 2014


  • I'm probably what people would call an 'evil author', as no character is safe. You've got to think about the realistic angle- is it logical to have a character die\not die? Sometimes I kill characters not because I plan to, but because I'm in the middle of a scene and I think "Well, it's nearly impossible for someone not to die." Never forget the realistic aspect.

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    A . Nonymous | April 21, 2014


  • This came up with me recently in a discussion over a recent movie in which a highly advertised character is killed off fairly early in the film.

    Now, as an anecdote in one of my earliest stories (post school required writing) I had a few characters near the end get maimed and/or killed off. In my mind they weren't main characters; however my own mother reading it said, "I can't believe you did that to them!"; in her mind they were main characters.

    There is a divide between author/director and audience. A writer may kill off a character because A: They don't have a use for them anymore or B: Tension *the second is over-used in my opinion. A writer may feel that they just can't use the character in the story anymore, and they would just end up bumbling about in the background; so they either downplay them, brush them aside, or remove them completely (IE Kill them), especially if they don't see a sequel happening at the time of writing or can see any future use for them in the narrative.

    Problem is, an audience may come to like and relate to the character and take issue with them being killed off as oppose to (they left and lived their own life happily ever after) which isn't always realistic in the world and situation(s) you have created. So its a tight rope.

    Personally I prefer to move characters around the setting, imprisoned, sealed, relocated, ect...rather than kill them off as I might need them later or get an idea for a solo adventure for them and now be burdened by (oh right they're dead); never want to pull a comic book resurrection if you can help it.

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    Rhuen Stone | June 18, 2014


  • Actually, the number one reason for most killing-off of characters is for Plot, and honestly speaking, this should be the only reason a character dies in a story.

    The meaningful death of a well-known and/or important character can drive the story into a whole new and wonderful direction - of course, constantly using Character Death in this manner defeats the purpose of it, and becomes somewhat stale as it is used over and over (a fault that Shingeki no Kyojin and Game of Thrones are guilty for).

    In any case, don't kill of your characters if it isn't neccessary. 

     

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    Karl Guiness | June 20, 2014


  • Ah yes, the death tropes. Some of which have been done so often they are now considered "lazy writing".

    The worst offender being what I call "the push"; but is better known by the tv tropes title of (Girl in the Fridge) after one of the earlier uses. The killing of a character close to the main character in order to emphasize that the villain/threat is to be taken seriously and give the main character an emotional push/strengthen their resolve. Personally I detest this one, mainly because its used so often, and because in longer series to give this more impact they do it to characters that the audience would also know and what to see be with the main character or part of their life (thus becomes a kick in the teeth when it happens). To be honest this is also a bit insulting to your character, meaning that your character even if they saw that (insert threat) kills people without remorse, destroys everything, has no qualms about what they do; the main character requires this be brought home and close to them to get the point across that they have to act and can't reason with this threat. It can also make a character that seeks justice and peace look bad as it adds "revenge" to their list of motivations for stopping the threat.

    There are also characters who act in an advice/guidance role or inherited authority (like a king); who tend to be killed off to emphasize that the character being groomed by them must now act on their own without the option to seek aid; and in the latter the people must look to the main character as they "stand alone". The Wise Guide and the King must die tropes as I call them are also badly over-used; especially in adventure stories.

    Although there are also villain death tropes that feel lazy, but are considered classics so get overlooked like the "Sealed Evil in a can" killing the main villain after they release it; which comes across as the expected ending of some stories (I thank videogames and their transforming/the real final boss is an eldritch abomination) for cementing this one. But the jobber versions (the badder villain) is an eye-roll for me; when a new villain is introduced and they beat down/kill an older established villain just to show how much more of a threat they are.

    The betrayal of a side-villain by the main villain, killing them just to show how merciless they are, or as a sacrifice to the real big bad (which usually ends up killing them too) is also a bit on the tired side; especially when its a female character who "loves" the main villain who then betrays and kills her to show he is heartless or was tricking her to use as a sacrifice or pawn. *even when that latter one doesn't end in death its still an eye-roll as it plays into a tired gender stereotype in adventure stories*.

     

    Of course the real problem with these isn't that the characters are being killed, its because they are used so often that the audience can often see the signs that this moment is coming, or have just seen it done so often that it loses the impact and they feel like you killed a likable character or side character needlessly.

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    Rhuen Stone | June 20, 2014


  • It's a very simple question: Does it serve any purpose? Not just to the character's advantage or disadvantage but also to give your story the depth and darkness that it may need. But you have to look at it from an artistic standpoint, and keep your own emotions out of it. It doesn't matter how much you or anyone else likes the character. If they need to die, they die. If not, leave 'em alive. I would encourage you to read A Song of Ice and Fire if you can--the author will kill literally any character if it serves the purpose of his story, to the point where no one is safe, and that adds an element to his books that most other books don't have, because like movies, we assume that the main character can't or won't die. On the other end of the spectrum, there are a LOT of poorly written books where authors simply refuse to let their characters die, and the book suffers for it. A story doesn't NEED death, but it is a tool and nothing else--try to see it from a logical standpoint, as an outsider, and see if it is useful in this situation, and if it is, don't be afraid. 

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    Catherine Rose Hillin | January 1, 2015


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