Killing off a character

starrykitten · May 14, 2009

Hi--

I have a few questions about a character I'm killing off.

I'm killing him off pretty early, and I'm not sure that readers will have really had enough time to develop any feelings for him. It won't work to change the structure and utilize a flashback or anything. Are there any ideas--even cheap tricks--to make readers care?

Second question: his death affects my MC profoundly. Is that reason enough to kill him off? I feel like it is, but it doesn't really impact the plot in other ways. Do I need to tie his death in with other plot elements?

Thanks in advance!

RainbowDragon · May 14, 2009

Show him doing something noble or being oppressed or maybe even striving to get published

If your story's mostly character-driven, IMO it doesn't have to affect the plot. If it's plot-driven, can you tweak the situation to make it affect the plot more? Maybe he had some knowledge/possession/something the MC needed?

Mr. Anonymous · May 14, 2009

One great way to make readers feel a bit more is to flesh the character out right before he dies.

IE, he and the MC have a conversation, joke around with each other, etc. Then all of a sudden the enemy launches a surprise attack and he gets killed.

Clair Dickson · May 14, 2009

I've killed off characters solely for the plot. I used one as a warning to MC.

I don't think the reader has to care about the dead character, so long as the death serves some purpose, either as plot or character catalyst.

PoppysInARow · May 14, 2009

I did the same thing in my book. I kill of my MC's brother to have an impact on her. One way you can do it is have scenes from other characters' points of veiw, like your MC, about the character you're going to kill off. That way, even though you don't necessarily have time to have the reader build a strong relationship with the character you're killing off, your reader can sympathize with your MC + co. when they feel bad for his death.

Stunted · May 14, 2009

IMHO, if your MC's grief makes him do something that moves the plot, then the death helps move the plot.

gonovelgo · May 14, 2009

Think back to writers you know of who are good at making you feel something about a character in a short space of time. (I had some examples lined up, but now I can't remember any of them :/) I don't think you necessarily have to build up a character before you kill them, but it usually doesn't hurt either.

Pepper · May 14, 2009

I remember watching a movie where most of the supporting characters were killed off. I felt cheated. It seemed like the director made this choice in order to build the anguish of the protagonist, but there wasn't enough time invested in those characters for me to care.

I recommend giving this character a bigger part than simply serving to depress the protagonist. I think the character's death should play a major part in the MC's future choices, morals, etc. If the death of this character doesn't serve to further the plot, it HAS to further the MC. If you can show the reader the "profound" effect the death had on your MC right through the book, we'll feel less cheated.

IMHO.

seun · May 15, 2009

Kill your characters if it serves the story of the surviving characters or furthers the plot. Don't do it as plot device or a cheap trick.

sadron · May 15, 2009

Ohh, why to kill a character? I have killed only evil ones. Not good ones. *ponders*

LuckyH · May 15, 2009

Sometimes the killing of a character depends on your editor (publisher). American markets tend to prefer the hero to survive, the UK market is more cruel, or more realistic, but it (the market) is much smaller.

sadron · May 15, 2009

Oh dear. so they want to kill a character, but that would change the story somehow.

Publishers has the power... It would me sad if they wanted to do so.

LuckyH · May 15, 2009

sadron said:
Oh dear. so they want to kill a character, but that would change the story somehow. Publishers has the power... It would me sad if they wanted to do so.

The best writers in the world have a God they must obey, their publisher. Whatever the publisher wants, he gets, otherwise the writer is writing an un publishable diary.

skywriter16 · May 15, 2009

I am killing off one of my characters as well but the reader will have time to get attached. My suggestion would be to play up his/her plot a little more maybe show some of their raw emotion or how much they mean to the MC. Then when you kill them off your reader won't be like why is the MC so sad that guy was a nobody.

ccv707 · May 15, 2009

Write the character you're killing as if he/she were the main character, since you say it's pretty early on. His/Her friend, the one who becomes the main character, can simply play the role of the lovable best friend and assume MC duties once you've killed the character off, so by the time the death begins to truly affect him you'll have developed empathy for both people.

TereLiz · May 15, 2009

If you feel like the death is necessary, then by all means, snip the thread. What if you just go with the lack of emotion you think the reader may have and show the death's effect on the MC little by little?
But, as you say, how do you make their relationship meaningful without resorting to flashbacks?

When you miss someone, is it really whole scenes you remember, or is it more like things that you come across in everyday life remind you of them? Even smells could remind the MC of his friend, and possibly trip him when he least expects it. Showing how much an important part of the MCs life the character was will be much more challenging without revealing much about his friend but it could be potentially be more meaningful.

By the time the reader is wondering about all these little clues, flashes of memories, smells bringing him to his knees, for example, wondering, why the hell did the MC care so much about this guy, then I think one of the other characters would be wondering about this behavior, too.

When the MC reveals exactly why they were so close, though, it had better be good. And cathartic, and help the MC overcome the next obstacle.

Wow, that all sounds really pretentious now that I read it back, but if your work is inherently more character driven, and not complicated plot-wise already, it could really add another dimension to the story.

Take it or leave it, but either way, good luck!

seun · May 16, 2009

LuckyH said:
The best writers in the world have a God they must obey, their publisher. Whatever the publisher wants, he gets, otherwise the writer is writing an un publishable diary.

Obeying (as you put it) a publisher without question doesn't make a writer one of the best in the world. It means the writer doesn't want to or simply can't stand by their story. How does that add to a writer's strength and make them one of the best in the world?

angeliz2k · May 16, 2009

Ask yourself how important the life of the dead character is. And ask yourself how important the death is. You need to build up this character directly in proportion to how much his life and death affect the MC or the plot.

You say his death affects the MC profoundly. If so, you should probably spend enough time on him that we care a little about him and can see (instead of being told) why the MC cares a lot about the death. If she mopes about this dead character and we've barely seen or heard from, then we won't feel her pain.

On the other hand, sometimes a character's only purpose is to die. The father of my MC dies in the first few pages. He never speaks, he just dies. But it's his death that's important, setting into motion everything that happens. His life is interesting, and in early drafts I went much deeper into his life. Then I realized that, really, his death was his only real contribution to the story. The MC is upset by her father's death, naturally, but she's much more upset by later events. Proportionally, I spent more time on events which affect her much more deeply and less time on the death of her father.

ishtar'sgate · May 16, 2009

Personally, I like readers to care about the people I knock off - either love them or hate them - are sad or cheer. Even good murder mysteries that begin with a death will draw the reader into the victim's life if only for a few paragraphs so that the reader already feels animosity for the murderer. It takes very little to engage the reader enough to elicit an emotional response. I killed off an old man in my historical novel. He hadn't appeared much prior to his death but was a fiesty, cranky old guy who lost a fist fight he started with a younger, stronger man. More than a few readers were a bit ticked off at me for killing him. That's all you need. A bit of character so he's not just taking up space on the page.

Phaeal · May 16, 2009

LuckyH said:
The best writers in the world have a God they must obey, their publisher. Whatever the publisher wants, he gets, otherwise the writer is writing an un publishable diary.

The best writers in the world, or at least the most successful, need not obey their publishers. They can go get other ones.

Phaeal · May 16, 2009

ishtar'sgate said:
Personally, I like readers to care about the people I knock off - either love them or hate them - are sad or cheer. Even good murder mysteries that begin with a death will draw the reader into the victim's life if only for a few paragraphs so that the reader already feels animosity for the murderer. It takes very little to engage the reader enough to elicit an emotional response. I killed off an old man in my historical novel. He hadn't appeared much prior to his death but was a fiesty, cranky old guy who lost a fist fight he started with a younger, stronger man. More than a few readers were a bit ticked off at me for killing him. That's all you need. A bit of character so he's not just taking up space on the page.

Precisely. It doesn't take many paragraphs to earn a reader's sympathy or antipathy. Good writers pull off this trick all the time. It's a staple of the mystery or thriller or horror opening. Give us a feisty underdog or a vulnerable character, like the old man mentioned above or a child, put him in danger, the reader's likely to wince at his suffering and hiss at his persecutor. I mean, in real life, do you have to know someone well to be horrified if he's shot or hit by a truck in front of you?

If this "deathspian" is important to the MC, and the MC is important to the reader, then the reader will respond to the "deathspian's" demise as the MC does.

angeliz2k · May 16, 2009

Phaeal said:
Precisely. It doesn't take many paragraphs to earn a reader's sympathy or antipathy. Good writers pull off this trick all the time. It's a staple of the mystery or thriller or horror opening. Give us a feisty underdog or a vulnerable character, like the old man mentioned above or a child, put him in danger, the reader's likely to wince at his suffering and hiss at his persecutor. I mean, in real life, do you have to know someone well to be horrified if he's shot or hit by a truck in front of you?

If this "deathspian" is important to the MC, and the MC is important to the reader, then the reader will respond to the "deathspian's" demise as the MC does.

The space can be used effectively, but depending on the role of the dead/dying character, the space given them might be small or large. In the case of the OP, it sounds like a large amount of space needs to be used [effectively] to accomplish what needs to be accomplished.

FOTSGreg · May 16, 2009

I kill off the main character's entire family and home town in the first chapter of my novel Hatchings. I then proceed to kill off his girlfriend and a college mentor in the 4th or 5th chapter. Late in the book, I kill off several trusted bodyguards and a close friend.

If the work requires a character to be killed off, I say kill 'em off. Have a reason to do so that is logical and reasonable within the body of the work and show the death up close and personal if it is necessary to the work (in my book, only the MC's father's death is shown up close and personal and the death of his bodyguards and close friend are also shown, but in a flash of action. The death of his girlfriend and college mentor are dealt with secondhand via a phone call, but he later attends their autopsies which opens a can of worms regarding his personal feelings although it never descends to the level of navel-gazing).

starrykitten · May 19, 2009

Thank you all for these suggestions; I feel much better about the plot now.

Leah_Michelle · May 19, 2009

sadron said:
Ohh, why to kill a character? I have killed only evil ones. Not good ones. *ponders*

Personally, I would love to never kill off one of my characters, but the reality is, to quote Transformers :tongue

, "No Sacrifice, no victory." I think that really does mean a lot. Depending on the genre of course, none of my favorite fantasy/action/adventure books off the top of my head have all characters live. When it comes to adventures of characters, to me, everything cannot be perfect.

Like everyone else is saying, give the character more before they die. Give them a moment that makes the readers heart soften for them, give them a noble death, give them a nice back story that changes the life of the MC.

Killing off a character

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