How to write a meaninful character death?

[Esther]

@freedomwriter76

Also, this article by @joy-calle might help: https://kingdompen.org/how-to-kill-a-hero/

Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende

[Anonymous]

@esther-c. (that’s a SUPERB idea about the journal btw…🤩) @joy-calle. @booksbyjayna. @thearcaneaxiom. @princesachronicle22. @otherworldlyhistorian.

Thank all y’all so much!!! ❤️

[Anonymous]

@gwyndalf-the-wise. And thank you again, too, girl! ❤️

[Esther]

@freedomwriter76

Glad I could help!! 😄

Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende

[Gwyndalf the Wise]

@freedomwriter76

You’re welcome! =D
sorry I haven’t seen anyone’s messages since the 15th cause it didn’t send me an email *glares at email stealing monster*

 

"...I did not say to the seed of Jacob, 'Seek Me in vain..."
(Part of) Isaiah 45:19

[Karissa Chmil]

“Misery, misery! Readers won’t kill us, nice readers-“

Adapted Gollum quotes aside, I think you can outrage your readers without cheating them. Both can happen in a character’s death, and cheated readers very often are outraged. 😛 But you can reasonably outrage a reader without them feeling cheated.

If you truly build up your character (and it really sounds like you have), then losing them is going to hurt the reader. They’re going to be shocked, they’re going to be sad, and they’re going to be angry. In short, they’ll be outraged at what happened.

Pretty much all of us have probably felt that way before. (Spoiler alerts: Dumbledore (Harry Potter)? Amaya (Coral)? Nibs (Shadow)? When you lose characters that you cared about does hurt, and oftentimes readers will express that in outrage at the author, usually in a semi-teasing sort of way.

But you can get to that point without cheating them. Readers usually feel cheated when the death doesn’t make sense and when the death doesn’t do anything.

Shock factor is never a good enough reason to kill a character. If readers can sense that you don’t have a good reason for this character to die, they’ll probably feel pretty cheated.

Also, when the death doesn’t do anything, when all the other characters just move on, nothing changes in the plot, etc., they’ll also feel cheated.

The good news is that your project doesn’t sound like it’s doing either of those. 😘 It sounds heart-breaking, but it also sounds meaningful, and meaningful deaths are very rarely those that will make readers feel cheated.

So, yes, you can absolutely kill a character in a way that makes the readers feel cheated. But you can also not do that, and your project sounds squarely in the second case.

wonder | beauty | truth | love

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