Make Deaths in Your Story Seem Real
Death. Not a fun subject and may be difficult to write about. Often in fictional stories, when a character dies the other characters go through what some call the 'Forgetful Grievers' method. This happens when, for a period of time, the characters seem extremely upset about the death of a character, and then completely forget about it! This "how to" will help you blast through the 'Forgetful Grievers' method.
Contents
Steps
- Choose which character/s you want to kill off. These are called 'Fate' characters. The most common Fate characters are antagonists, contagonists, and protagonists. Example: in 'Bridge to Terabithia' Leslie, one of the two protagonists, dies. Dorian Grey (The Picture of Dorian Grey) is also an example of a Fate Protagonist. Also, don't be afraid to kill off more than one character, several characters can die in a story or series. Choose a character that the reader will likely never guess will die. This creates suspense, and a few sensitive readers who were fond of the character might even cry (this is a good thing, which means they'll have the name of the author, that's you, so they'll want to read other books you might publish). Timing has to be perfect. The Fate Character could die at a turning point in the story, disrupting the entire plot or plans of other characters. Most commonly, characters die near the end of the story.
- Decide how the character will die. This is crucial because it could also affect the entire plot. Maybe another character accidentally killed the Fate Character, maybe they committed suicide. Be creative, and don't kill them off on a commonly used 'Kill' Method, such as car crashes. These will be overly predictable and readers will quickly get bored if they figure out how the character will die. If the person is going to get murdered, carefully choose who murders them, since this is a common 'kill method'.
- Write the first draft of your story. Don't rush and don't stress. This is your first draft so you can mess up the whole thing and write it again later.
- Put yourself in the other character's shoes. Now your other characters are going to be sad for the rest of the story. Try to imagine that this character was your best friend, a parent, a sibling, cousin, anybody you once cared about (note: you might cry if you do this, that's a very good thing). How would you feel? Sad? Angry? Scared? Remember, nobody would be happy after losing somebody they love, even the overly-cheerful characters.
- Edit the story, otherwise known as the spit-n-polish method. Go through your story. Make sure all of the previous events lead up to the Fate Character dying (unless they die unexpectedly). After the character dies, have every different character react in a different way. Temperamental characters would probably be furious.
Tips
- For a major character, make sure it has some huge effect on the plot or main character. In Harry Potter, Sirius Black's death was significant because he was the closest link to Harry's parents, as well as a way out of the Dursley's. It was also striking because he never got his freedom back.
- Think this: the person's gone forever. They aren't coming back.
- Watch or read extremely sad movies or books, particularly ones with characters who die.
- For a super-tragedy, kill one of the main characters just after they are finally able to be together. Think Moulin Rouge here, or Warrior cats fans, Silverstream and Graystripe.
- Think of a pet or loved one you might have lost. How did you react? Some people even forget that their loved ones are dead the next day.
- To get the 'No!, they just died!' effect, use as brutal a death as possible, when the reader would least expect it. This shocks the reader, and makes them want to read on to find out how the story resolves after this death.
- Killing a character in the middle of their arc can have a great impact on the reader as long as the character has been developed enough to fall in love with.
Warnings
- There ought to be some characters the reader really doesn't want to die. Don't kill those kinds of characters often.
- Unless it is an absolutely crucial part of your plot, avoid resurrecting a dead character, or having it turn out they never actually died - this can make them look like a Mary-Sue (an idealized character with no flaws) or can come across as clichéd and unnecessary.
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