Killing of MC

DamaNegra · Apr 23, 2006

Is it a good idea to kill of the MC at the end of the book and let another very important character take his place as the MC for the closing?

I mean, that guy just has to die, but I don't want to leave the book at that. The POV is 3rd person limited, so I may be able to manage it, but will this throw readers off??

ChaosTitan · Apr 23, 2006

If it's necessary to your story, then yes, it's okay to kill off the MC. I've done it, and I've seen it done in published novels.

I'm curious, though. Is your MC the only narrator for the entire novel? Or does your "new MC" narrate a few scenes during the story? It is less jolting for the reader if we've seen some of the story from the "new MC's" POV.

DamaNegra · Apr 23, 2006

chaostitan said:
If it's necessary to your story, then yes, it's okay to kill off the MC. I've done it, and I've seen it done in published novels.

I'm curious, though. Is your MC the only narrator for the entire novel? Or does your "new MC" narrate a few scenes during the story? It is less jolting for the reader if we've seen some of the story from the "new MC's" POV.

Definitely. Actually, I haven't even begun writing the novel, but I'm fixing small outline details so I can have everything as ready as possible for when I start it.

And don't worry, I'm not outlining too much. My outline consists of 10 half-filled post-its.

aadams73 · Apr 23, 2006

It has been done, but I would probably hurl the book across the room.

There has been one exception, the title of which I don't want to mention because it would spoil the book if someone wanted to read it and hasn't yet. The author did it so suddenly and so unexpectedly that I gasped and burst into tears. Thinking about it still evokes real grief in me.

I guess my answer here is yes, you can do it, but make sure it isn't gratuitous and take care to do it very very well.

AmyBA · Apr 23, 2006

I guess it depends on how you pull it off. The two recent examples I can think of made me want to pitch the book across the room-- but it also felt like those two writers got tired of writing and thought, hey, I'll just kill the character, wrap up the book, and type "the end." (I won't mention titles because it would totally spoil it for anyone who hasn't read them yet.)

fallenangelwriter · Apr 23, 2006

It sounds to me as though you have a good case for an epilogue.

if the main character dies, a very short bit form another POV that provides some sens eof closure would be a natural epilogue, IMO.

maestrowork · Apr 23, 2006

DamaNegra said:
Is it a good idea to kill of the MC at the end of the book and let another very important character take his place as the MC for the closing?

I mean, that guy just has to die, but I don't want to leave the book at that. The POV is 3rd person limited, so I may be able to manage it, but will this throw readers off??

Kill the bastard and end the darn book.

Nothing is more irritating than killing the main character and introducing a brand new character at the end. ARGH! Even for epilogue... unless you're setting up a sequel and the sequel is NOW available for purchase. If not... ARGH!

DamaNegra · Apr 23, 2006

maestrowork said:
Kill the bastard and end the darn book.

Nothing is more irritating than killing the main character and introducing a brand new character at the end. ARGH! Even for epilogue... unless you're setting up a sequel and the sequel is NOW available for purchase. If not... ARGH!

No, actually, she's a main character that is present all throughout the novel. Nothing would change much, except the other character is dead. Actually, the POV of the scene where the MC dies will be hers, so I don't think there will be that much of a drastic change for the readers.

maestrowork · Apr 23, 2006

Then that's okay.

Killing of MC

DamaNegra

Mexican on the loose!

ChaosTitan

Around

DamaNegra

Mexican on the loose!

aadams73

A Work in Progress

AmyBA

I'm a believer

fallenangelwriter

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

DamaNegra

Mexican on the loose!

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray