Killing Characters

None of us really want to kill our characters…Or do we?…(She laughs maniacally, Muhahaha) In reality people die everyday so why not put death in your novel? It is a necessary event to happen for many reasons. Seeing as though I talked about love and intimacy in my last two blog posts, I felt like death would be a good topic to cover next.

Many reasons can lead you to death in the your novel, for example….

And many more…

What ever the reasoning is, death is a reality so it is inevitable that it could be in many stories that we write. It doesn’t have to be a main character, it could be a second tier character that you don’t plan to bring back and maybe just have to find a way to explain the sudden disappearance of them in the novel.

Deaths can come in all sorts of ways, but it’s up to you whether it is an important death that should have meaning for the other characters and the reader or not.

Will it be…

-A sudden death

-An epic death

-Slow

-Inevitable fate

-Quick and meaningless?

That is all for us as Authors to figure out. Will it be this or that and how will it happen. As a writer who feels like my characters have a mind of their own, I know it can be difficult to have to kill a character when it comes time. Sometimes though, you just know. I don’t write out an outline so I never really know who will die and when but that is the beauty but also sadness of it.

Not all novels/stories need to have death in them. Don’t get me wrong there are several that don’t. However, if you are going to write in certain genres it is almost expected of you, that a tragedy will occur. For example, my Psychological Thriller that I am currently working on, there will be death. I mean it kind of comes with the territory. Who knows what the future novels I write will include as I am a multi-genre writer but for a Thriller with a serial killer there will be some blood shed.

My advice on how to write in a death scene, especially if it is going to be an epic meaningful death, is to make it original. Think outside the box and try to come up with a way for them to die that is unique to your novel (well for the most part that is, you can never really know if it’s been used before). Just try to go with something that is different, instead of the same old situations.

Whether you will have time in your story to honor their death is also completely up to you but remember the time frames. When someone would usually have a funeral or if there can’t be a funeral then why? If there is no funeral most people would still find someway to honor them. Or it could be a senseless death for someone who doesn’t have a major impact in the story. But you still have to include some realistic situations. Even if aliens in story die, I would assume they would have their own customs and ways to deal with the death of one of their own.

This may be a tough subject for anyone who has lost a family member, or even someone who they were really close to. Even though I have experienced the loss of loved ones I still find it necessary to write about death sometimes as it is a way of life. You will bring that reality to your story that your reader can react to and engage with. They may cry when reading it and you might as well but it gives both you and the reader that undeniable connection to the characters. A reality that effects all living creatures. You could touch your readers soul in a way that they will remember your book for, not only for a death but for how your main character handled and rose above a sadness like no other.

Until next time…JUST KEEP WRITING.

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