Unease about killing off characters?

TheIT · Nov 8, 2005

I'm contemplating killing off a character in my fantasy WIP, and it feels very strange. A lot of characters have been killed in the past, some of the deaths are critical to the storyline, but I've never killed off a character onstage before. The scenario I'm considering would be a noble sacrifice of a (hopefully) sympathetic character, one man sacrificing himself so that others will live, and would make sense as part of the story. The world I'm setting up is dangerous so it would be ludicrous to think all the characters could get through the adventure unscathed, but I'm still having qualms. I know the characters aren't flesh and blood. I know they're not real. I still think I'm going to shed tears when it comes time to kill him off.

Does anyone else have misgivings about killing off their characters?

awaitingthemuse · Nov 8, 2005

I wish I did feel bad. I am writing my first novel and learning a lot as I go. When a character starts to be difficult for me to work with I usually kill them. Lots of work waiting for me on the rewrite.

katiemac · Nov 8, 2005

If you're having misgivings, the death probably isn't right for the story. Try rethinking the character's purpose to the plot.

If the character and scene are crucial, and you're just feeling sad about losing him -- cheer up, the readers will probably feel the same way. And that's the point.

pconsidine · Nov 8, 2005

My wife was reading a fantasy story I had written and when she got to the end, she breathed a sigh of relief and said, "wow. I was afraid you were going to kill her off." That's when I knew I had to do it.

The more distressing you find the thought of killing off a character, chances are the more distressed the reader will be as well. And that's what you want. You want your reader to have an emotional reaction to the story you're telling. If it's from the death of a beloved character, then so be it. But, boy, will people remember your story as the one that made them cry.

maestrowork · Nov 8, 2005

pconsidine said:
My wife was reading a fantasy story I had written and when she got to the end, she breathed a sigh of relief and said, "wow. I was afraid you were going to kill her off." That's when I knew I had to do it.

The more distressing you find the thought of killing off a character, chances are the more distressed the reader will be as well. And that's what you want. You want your reader to have an emotional reaction to the story you're telling. If it's from the death of a beloved character, then so be it. But, boy, will people remember your story as the one that made them cry.

Hmmm... yes and no. I see the danger in that. If it fits the story, then yes. If there's a purpose to that death and it's something that fits the character, then yes.

Otherwise, even if you manage to squeeze a tear from the readers, you'll be shamelessly manipulating them, and smart readers can see through that and feel betrayed and resentful.

If you kill the character just to make someone like your wife cry, then you're doing it wrong, IMHO. Your wife would read it, cry as you wanted, then whack you in the head because she'd feel manipulated. I have felt that way about a few books I've read. The author got what he wanted, but I felt so cheated that I didn't want to read his books anymore.

My-Immortal · Nov 8, 2005

pconsidine said:
My wife was reading a fantasy story I had written and when she got to the end, she breathed a sigh of relief and said, "wow. I was afraid you were going to kill her off." That's when I knew I had to do it.

The more distressing you find the thought of killing off a character, chances are the more distressed the reader will be as well. And that's what you want. You want your reader to have an emotional reaction to the story you're telling. If it's from the death of a beloved character, then so be it. But, boy, will people remember your story as the one that made them cry.

I'm with Maestrowork on this - don't kill off the character unless it fits the story. Honestly, as I was reading your post the first time and I got to the passage I boldfaced I thought - 'way to go'. You'd obviously kept her on the edge and made her want to read until the end. But then when you next wrote "That's when I knew I had to do it." I stopped and wondered...are you now going back to change the story and kill the character? Why?

You then go on to state you want your reader to have an emotional reaction to the story - of course, and your wife had a very good one I would say. She had one throughout the entire story, wondering if the character would live or die. Killing the character at the end (especially if it doesn't fit the story) just so you can make the reader cry when the book is over....I don't know if that is as good as the suspense you've built up throughout the entire book.

Good luck with your writing.

Zonk · Nov 8, 2005

J.K.Rowling confessed that she cried when she killed off one of her characters, but not apparently when she killed another.

It can be successfully done, as Clavell did with Lady Mariko in Shogun; her sacrifice was integral to the story, and provided a motive for Toranaga to keep Blackthorne alive, and for Blackthorne to side completely with Toranaga.

I tried (twice!) to kill off one of my main characters, but my beta readers threatened me with grievous bodily harm :Shrug:

I didn't feel any remorse about it. My characters are bondslaves, they do whatever I tell them to, though I do enjoy writing some characters more than others.

The story is the important thing, I believe. If you cry over a character's death, maybe your readers will too. I don't think there's anything wrong with having misgivings about killing off a character. Go ahead and cry.

Anytime a character in a story gives themselves so that others may live, it touches something primeval in us (Aslan, Mariko, Gandalf, etc.)

So slay, and flay, maim, disfigure, dismember, and otherwise destroy any character you must, to write a good story, and weep afterwards.

pconsidine · Nov 8, 2005

My-Immortal said:
I stopped and wondered...are you now going back to change the story and kill the character? Why?

Sorry, I left out the most relevant part of the story - I had originally written it with the character dying but chickened out and rewrote it. Of course, it could really go either way. There's plenty of death and mayhem to go around in that story.

Maryn · Nov 8, 2005

For what it's worth--perhaps very little--one of the things fans of George R.R. Martin's epic fantasies rave about is his willingness to kill off the occasional featured character. In a series as war-torn as his, I think he'd have made a terrible mistake if all the characters readers get to know well were to survive. That would be predictable.

I'm sure Martin knows which two he can't kill, too.

Maryn, who would love a movie in which the big-name star doesn't make it to the last reel, because it would surprise her so much

My-Immortal · Nov 8, 2005

Maryn said:
For what it's worth--perhaps very little--one of the things fans of George R.R. Martin's epic fantasies rave about is his willingness to kill off the occasional featured character. In a series as war-torn as his, I think he'd have made a terrible mistake if all the characters readers get to know well were to survive. That would be predictable.

I'm sure Martin knows which two he can't kill, too.

Maryn, who would love a movie in which the big-name star doesn't make it to the last reel, because it would surprise her so much

Kinda like Drew Barrymore in Scream....? (I think that's the actress and movie - I haven't watched it in a long time).

In the grand scheme of things - Sean Bean (though not perhaps BIG-name) as Boromir died before the first of the three LOTR movies ended (so if you watch them back-to-back-to-back he dies early on)

I do know what you mean - I enjoy watching a movie (especially when I don't know about it ahead of time) where a big-name star dies early in the movie.

For what it's worth, I had quite a few characters die in my first WIP and it is not easy to write some of those scenes. I didn't want to go too far over the top, but yet, I didn't want to understate the death either.

Take care all...

maestrowork · Nov 8, 2005

I think you should have put up a "Spoiler Alert"!

Zonk said:
J.K.Rowling confessed that she cried when she killed off XXXX, but not apparently when she killed XXXX.

Zonk · Nov 8, 2005

maestrowork said:
I think you should have put up a "Spoiler Alert"!

Edited...

scarletpeaches · Nov 8, 2005

Let's own up - we're all megalomaniacs and the whole point of creating people is so we can kill them off at our leisure, right?

Oh, so it's just me then...

brinkett · Nov 8, 2005

Maryn said:
For what it's worth--perhaps very little--one of the things fans of George R.R. Martin's epic fantasies rave about is his willingness to kill off the occasional featured character.

I'm not one of those fans. One of the things I don't like about the series is the number of characters he kills off. Sure, some have to die, but it's to the point where I don't want to invest in any of the characters because many will die, anyway.

Vomaxx · Nov 8, 2005

maestrowork said:
If it fits the story, then yes. If there's a purpose to that death and it's something that fits the character, then yes.
Otherwise, even if you manage to squeeze a tear from the readers, you'll be shamelessly manipulating them, and smart readers can see through that and feel betrayed and resentful.

Bravo. Truer words, etc.

I like to try to move readers by the actions of live characters, not by the memory of dead ones.

Celia Cyanide · Nov 8, 2005

pconsidine said:
Sorry, I left out the most relevant part of the story - I had originally written it with the character dying but chickened out and rewrote it. Of course, it could really go either way. There's plenty of death and mayhem to go around in that story.

I understand what you mean, but do you think maybe keeping the character alive made it more surprising for your wife to read?

TheIT · Nov 8, 2005

Part of what's bothering me is the lack of anonymity. I've got no compunction against killing off pawns offstage. In the history for this WIP there's been plenty of betrayal, intrigue, and a war which nearly destroyed their civilization.

But the character (victim) I have in mind is not a simple pawn. In order for him to be sympathetic to the reader I'm going to have to get inside his head and give him words, actions, and dreams. Then I'm going to bump him off. It feels wrong, somehow, from a moral sense, though I'll do it if it makes the story better.

DamaNegra · Nov 8, 2005

It has happened to me. There was one character that I liked a lot, but then I realized he was going to die, because it was essential to the story. I cried because I liked him a lot and didn't want him to die, but that's just the way of things.

In another WIP, I was writing when suddenly I realized one of the main characters, my favorite, was going to be killed. I nearly cried, but he was going to die and there was nothing I could do about it.

My friends think I'm crazy, they just go like: 'Why don't you make someone else die? Or make them live', but they don't understand what it's like, when a character is meant to die, there's actually nothing the writer can do about it because the story won't be the same. It's like life, people sometimes die but we have to live with it.

britlitfantw · Nov 8, 2005

I know where you’re coming from, as I have a similar situation in my fantasy WIP. It’s the first of two books, and near the end one of the secondary characters dies to let the others out alive – she couldn’t save someone earlier, and sees it as a bit of an atonement. She’s also a religious character and, since her family is now on a different planet, she hopes to be able to watch over them now after having thought she lost them forever.

Also, near the end, a character very dear to my heart is lost to the protagonist, though not killed, and not forever; loss that seems permanent to the characters makes me sad, sometimes moreso than death itself.

Something else that almost makes me cry more than writing the death of a main character is writing (or reading, for that matter) about the death of a minor character who is barely mentioned, but you know their name, who they are, and they’ve had a few lines of dialogue; often that upsets me more than another death. Not sure why.

However, if you have unease in killing off your characters, I’d say it’s for one of two reasons; a) because you know, deep down, that it’s really not the right way to advance your story or b) you very much care for the character. If it’s the second option, I’d say go for it; as others have said, if it elicits such a response in you, it will do so in the reader, as long as it’s not a meaningless death.

If it’s the first option, I’d say try it; if it really doesn’t sit right, change it. If it does, leave it, and look back on it in re-writes and see how you feel then.

So sorry, this turned into a monolith, and most of it is my babbling. Good luck!

Euan H. · Nov 8, 2005

brinkett said:
I'm not one of those fans. One of the things I don't like about the series is the number of characters he kills off. Sure, some have to die, but it's to the point where I don't want to invest in any of the characters because many will die, anyway.

I'm with you. I have lost interest in that series--and one of the reasons was the death of one of the main characters. I feel like I have wasted my time reading about that person's threads in the story. Yes, I know it's more realistic, and life is like that, but fiction is not life.

Edited to add:

Thinking about it, it's not so much the fact that the character died, but the manner in which he died. At the end of Macbeth, narrative logic demands that Macbeth die. Same with Romeo and Juliet. But in this case, the death of the character just felt like the author setting out to prove that he could and would kill off main characters if he felt like it. This is fine (cf. the first chapter of 'It' by S. King), but not, I think, after so much time (the third door-stopper book of a six (?) book series).

maestrowork · Nov 8, 2005

Celia Cyanide said:
I understand what you mean, but do you think maybe keeping the character alive made it more surprising for your wife to read?

Actually, by his wife's comment my guess is that it's actually more emotionally satisfying for her to see the character live. So if he actually kills the character just to make it tragic, I bet his wife would resent that... unless there's a very good reason, and it makes sense.

scarletpeaches · Nov 8, 2005

I once killed a character with a rolling pin. Do I win a prize?

TheIT · Nov 8, 2005

scarletpeaches said:
I once killed a character with a rolling pin. Do I win a prize?

In the scenario I have in mind, I'm using an avalanche.

Right now his fate isn't sealed. The idea to kill off this character came to me last night when I was considering possible directions for the story. If it happens, it'll happen toward the end and I haven't written that far yet, so I've got time to decide. If he dies, it will have ramifications for the other characters and part of the story will need to deal with the consequences.

I don't remember the source offhand, but I read some writing advice once which stated, "If blood, then grief." I dislike stories where characters get killed and none of the other characters seem to notice, or care. Death should have an impact.

brinkett · Nov 8, 2005

Euan H. said:
But in this case, the death of the character just felt like the author setting out to prove that he could and would kill off main characters if he felt like it. This is fine (cf. the first chapter of 'It' by S. King), but not, I think, after so much time (the third door-stopper book of a six (?) book series).

I agree. I haven't lost in interest in the series (A Feast for Crows is the first book I've ever pre-ordered), but my interest has gone down a notch.

There's an interview with Martin in the latest issue of Locus. In it, he says, "I didn't plan to bring in such a multiplicity of viewpoint characters, but the stories are sufficiently complex in themselves that I needed to. (Still, I'm going to have to start killing some of them!)"

So I suspect some characters aren't killed for story reasons, but to make his life easier. The reader can tell, and it grates.

Gabriele · Nov 8, 2005

brinkett said:
(Still, I'm going to have to start killing some of them!)"

So, that's the way to deal with a cast of thousand.

*makes list for desposable characters in Kings and Rebels* Most of which do get POVs.

In fact, I do kill MCs. I cannot imagine a happy or even satisfying end for Roderic Sinclair (Kings and Rebels), torn as he is by conflicting loyalties, broken oaths and the incapability to accept the forgiving of his friend, his liege and even one of his enemies because he can't forgive himself; someone has to die at the end of Storm over Hadrian's Wall, and I picked Cailthearn because Talorcan has gone through so much that he deserves to survive or some readers might be really pissed; Alamir (Endangered Frontiers) dies in a vain attempt to save his king, which responds to his very first scene where he does save the king. All those novels have several MCs, though. The only NiP that has only one, The Charioteer, will not see Ciaran dead in the end, but he won't get Julia - no way I can make that work in the historical context.

As a writer, I don't have problems to kill characters dear to me. After all, I like those scenes as a reader if they are well worked into the book.

Unease about killing off characters?

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