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Doing Bad Things to Good People
TheRealZyconis
Registered User
Registered User
I've hit a point in the story I'm currently writing, and it looks like I might be killing off a character that I've become rather attached to. As much as it pains me to do it, I really think it might need to be done. I know it might sound a little weird to some people, (not only are they imaginary people, but they're my imaginary people.) I'm fairly certain that I'm not the only person who has a hard time hurting their creations, so does anyone have any advice on getting over this apprehension? I'd also love to hear some examples where the rest of you have had similar issues or even examples of times you didn't hesitate in the slightest!
(Also I'm new to the forums, and really hope that this is the right place to post this sort of thing. If it's not, I'd appreciate being pointed in the right direction so it doesn't happen again, thanks!)
(Also I'm new to the forums, and really hope that this is the right place to post this sort of thing. If it's not, I'd appreciate being pointed in the right direction so it doesn't happen again, thanks!)
Posts
First, why do you feel you have to kill this character? Is it because his part in the story is done and can't bring anything more to it? Is it because his death is the necessary catalyst for the hero to answer the call to adventure? Is it useful to get the reader more involved with the setting and story? All this might help you get to term with his eventual death... or to give him a new lease on life.
Personally, I sort of like killing off my characters. But then I'm kind of a dick.
Maddie: "I am not!"
Riley: "You're a marsupial!"
Maddie: "I am a placental mammal!"
I like using the death of a character as a motivation for another. Not necessarily something as obvious as revenge, but just a wakeup call.
{Twitter, Everybody's doing it. }{My Rambling Blog}
I briefly considered killing off a different character, one I don't particularly like, instead of the one that probably needs to die, but then I realized that there's no way it could possibly make the same impact on the reader.
Always kill the one you (the author) like. Kill your babies.
It will force you to create better characters. Kill them and only have characters you despise be your lead.
Think of the character's death as the ultimate expression of their believability; as real life is fragile and easily extinguished. Though this should not be taken to mean that killing characters lend them to be more believable.
Also:
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What I gather from this is that the character was made to die in this story, and that the story will not achieve its maximum potential without the death of said character. Therefore denying the character's death is doing an injustice to both character and story.
TLDR: KILL! KILL! KILL!
-A
hahah
You are not alone!
-A