Handling suicide in a short story

Bubastes · Aug 9, 2006

I'm sketching out a story (it looks like it will be around 7000 words) where the main character commits suicide at the end. I'm concerned that it will seem gratuitous or gimmicky, but right now I can't think of any other way to end the story. Any tips on how to handle such a delicate topic? Thanks.

Clyselia · Aug 9, 2006

MeowGirl,

this is a difficult problem that i have not yet encountered in my writing. i gave it some thought and this is what i think:

i have read some stories in which they deal with difficult topics (death, rape, etc) and instead of describing this act, they describe a parallel event that is either happening at the same time or not, and tells the reader what is also happening in your other scene. i'm not sure if i'm explaining this correctly, let me give an example.

i saw a movie in which they were showing a child falling from a height, but instead of showing all that scene, they switched to a scene of the mother dropping something that smashes on the floor, thus impying the death of the child. this was confirmed by the next scene, at the funeral.

i hope this helps - i don't really know what i'm talking about!

- Cly

Bubastes · Aug 9, 2006

That sounds like a tasteful way to handle it. I was also thinking of ending the story during the attempt (yes, I know that leaves some ambiguity on whether the character actually died, but I guess I can make the excuse that it's litfic

). I think I've figured out how to write about it symbolically because the symbolism anchors the entire piece anyway.

Pondering, pondering....

newmod · Aug 9, 2006

Hi MeowGirl, without knowing the set-up of your story I would also say that for me what is most interesting is what drives people to commit suicide. What interests me when I write/consider writing about these topics is what´s going on in their lives, heads etc. How do they reach the point where they feel self-destruction is the only solution to their problems? Why do they feel there are no other solutions or that they can´t go on?

Or if you are doing it from/including another character POV in the story that could be another way to address issues connected to the suicide and all the pain and suffering that precedes it.

As I said I don´t know how your story is laid out so maybe what I´ve said is irrelevant.

As for being gimmicky or gratuitous, I think you´ll see that when you finish. If it doesn´t chime right, change it. Obviously genre will play a part here. Personally (I don´t know if you intend to or not) I wouldn´t describe the death throes and the physical pain etc. But that´s just my take on it.

Hope that was not a total waste of your time

Bubastes · Aug 9, 2006

Not a waste at all! The mindset is exactly what I want to explore. What kinds of pressures would drive someone to feel that suicide is the only out? The main character is a college senior, supposedly a time filled with promise, and yet my character feels trapped. I want to find out why.

He is haunting me and bugging me to write his story because he thinks no one will hear him any other way. I suppose that this makes me either crazy or a writer, right?

Brandon Kerlee · Aug 9, 2006

I suppose that this makes me either crazy or a writer, right?

Can't you be both?

Mayor of Moronia · Aug 9, 2006

Read Jon Franklin's story MRS. KELLY'S MONSTER.

nevada · Aug 9, 2006

I have a real problem with stories ending in the death of the main character if the POV is from the main character. If it's omniscient POV it's okay. WHat is the POV that you're dealing with? PLease dont tell me it's first person. Please.

Bubastes · Aug 9, 2006

nevada said:
I have a real problem with stories ending in the death of the main character if the POV is from the main character. If it's omniscient POV it's okay. WHat is the POV that you're dealing with? PLease dont tell me it's first person. Please.

Breathe easy, the POV is 3rd person limited omniscient. People actually make that kind of POV gaffe? If the main character dies at the end, how the heck can the story be from the POV of that character? I suppose you could write the story in present tense, but that introduces its own set of problems....

Kristen King · Aug 9, 2006

MeowGirl said:
Breathe easy, the POV is 3rd person limited omniscient. People actually make that kind of POV gaffe? If the main character dies at the end, how the heck can the story be from the POV of that character? I suppose you could write the story in present tense, but that introduces its own set of problems....

Confession: When I was in sixth grade, I wrote a story about a kid who stumbled upon a druid ritual and became the sacrificial victim and DIED in FIRST PERSON. I should be excommunicated from the writing community. Granted, I was 12, but that's no excuse. I hope I've gotten better since then!

Kristen

bsolah · Aug 9, 2006

I wrote a story about a guy commiting suicide in first person a few years ago. It was a good story, if only you didn't stop to think about it not being possible that he could tell his story, whilst also being dead.

newmod · Aug 9, 2006

He could be telling his story from the grave, another dimension, or something like that.

bsolah · Aug 9, 2006

Not in that story. I'm an atheist and my character is an atheist. There's no life after death for this guy. However, I have also written stories from the grave. For a Christian, they could write a story from the point of view of a character now in heaven (or hell) and I'm sure that'd work fine.

The problem with suicide is people often feel very attached to main characters, and if someone is prone to this state of mind, it can be dangerous to read about a character for 400 pages and then see them die. I think it works better if a secondary character dies and you follow the main character's reaction to it.

nevada · Aug 9, 2006

people do that all the time. They don't understand POV. However, as with everything, there are exceptions. In The Cut by Susanna Moore is written in first person and in the end, the MC dies, but the way Ms. Moore handles it is beautiful. But then she's a very good writer.

Sesselja · Aug 10, 2006

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold is being narrated by a dead girl. I haven't read it, but it's got some good reviews. So it CAN be done, but only by a writer with a steady hand and a solid knowledge of the craft.

Edit: She didn't kill herself, but was murder, if that makes a difference.

Bubastes · Aug 10, 2006

Wow, nice examples of how a dead character can be a narrator. Looks like there are exceptions to every rule! But you're right, they need to be handled by a writer who has the skills to pull it off, and I know I'm not there yet. Thanks for all the input!

DeborahM · Aug 10, 2006

You never said how he commits suicide. How do you plan it?

If it is by gun, I can help with moment by moment details from a tragic moment in my life.

Bubastes · Aug 10, 2006

DeborahM said:
You never said how he commits suicide. How do you plan it?

If it is by gun, I can help with moment by moment details from a tragic moment in my life.

Electrocution (electricity plays a large part in the story). I've decided to change the ending so that the reader sees him planning his death, but does not witness the actual act. I'm more interested in exploring the emotions that lead to his decision, so the only critical details are the decision to kill himself and the method he chooses, not whether he actually succeeds.

I'm sorry to hear that you've had to deal with gun violence in your life. I can't imagine what I would do if I had that kind of detailed knowledge....

pdr · Aug 10, 2006

Aye, well...

I promised myself I wouldn't leap in on all you sweet young things whilst you slammed 1st Person and present tense. But you know some of us have been writing and selling short stories written like that for years! Why take a snit about telling a story that way?

As for writing 1stPoV, present and killing off the narrator, that's easy and a simple way to do it so that the reader goes right along with the character to hir death.

What works is what is right for the story. Let the character dictate and ignore the 'trendy' fashionable bods who run around saying 'You shouldn't do that, you can't do this.' Simply write your story the best way you can and stop worrying about PoVs and tenses.

DeborahM · Aug 10, 2006

MeowGirl said:
I'm sorry to hear that you've had to deal with gun violence in your life. I can't imagine what I would do if I had that kind of detailed knowledge....

I am a 5 1/2 year survivor of spouse suicide, which was commited in front of me.

You won't belive what you have to live with, or how much stronger a person you become. It changes you, how you see things as well as other people. I lived through it, which I questioned at times, but the thing I have trouble with now is trust. I'll never trust anyone to that extent again. I know you never say never, but that man will have to be pretty special for me to open to that extent, even with all the counseling I've had over this!

Sesselja · Aug 10, 2006

DeborahM said:
I am a 5 1/2 year survivor of spouse suicide, which was commited in front of me.

That is such a huge thing to try to comprehend, my mind just shuts down on me. Suicide is one thing, witnessing it another, and it then being done by the one you love maybe the most - my mind goes into white space.

I am so sorry you have had to have that experience in your life.

Bubastes · Aug 10, 2006

Sesselja said:
That is such a huge thing to try to comprehend, my mind just shuts down on me. Suicide is one thing, witnessing it another, and it then being done by the one you love maybe the most - my mind goes into white space.

Well said. I can't even begin to comprehend the horror of this. My heart goes out to you, DeborahM.

DeborahM · Aug 10, 2006

Sesselja said:
That is such a huge thing to try to comprehend, my mind just shuts down on me. Suicide is one thing, witnessing it another, and it then being done by the one you love maybe the most - my mind goes into white space.

I am so sorry you have had to have that experience in your life.

Yeah, you tend to shut down, is the minimum I can say about it. I was fortunate to have a supporttive family and there are things about that afternoon I still can't remember, but only remember now through those around me telling me what I said and did. The paramedics almost hospitalized me because I was close to stroking out, 160/100.

They said, later that evening I was sitting there saying I had to call somebody, but I'll play Scarlet and do it tomorrow.

But, on another plane, it has made me a better writer, as well as taking up writing on a more concentrated level, which I was starting to give in to doing instead of just wanting to write.

Thanks for your post. I look at it now that it was to make me stronger and a path the Lord put me on for a reason, whether to help other survivors, be a better writer or something I have yet to discover.

DeborahM · Aug 10, 2006

MeowGirl said:
Well said. I can't even begin to comprehend the horror of this. My heart goes out to you, DeborahM.

Thanks. I'm better, grief is a race that has no finish line.

But remember, if anyone needs help writing something like this, I can help.

Kate Thornton · Aug 10, 2006

DeborahM said:
Thanks. I'm better, grief is a race that has no finish line.

But the race slows down a bit eventually, and sometimes you forget you are running.

My heart goes out to you and to all of us who have suffered traumatic loss. We write from the dark place sometimes.

Handling suicide in a short story

Bubastes

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nevada

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