I have a serious problem

[Smiley]

I can’t kill a character

I’m one of those people who grows emotionally attached to everything and that includes characters XD for instance I was finishing up my Fanfic and I knew I should probably get rid of someone but I COULDN’T DO IT XD

And it’s the same for my original books

Does anyone have any tips or anything because this has become a problem

I should just make all my characters terrible and then I won’t have a problem killing them XD But I need help

Does anyone else struggle with this?

@Anyone

Oxygen shortage

do your part, hold your breath

[MineralizedWritings]

@smiley

You don’t have to kill characters! I think people think that it is necessary because most mainstream movies and books have character deaths, but it isn’t needed to be good. My books don’t have any deaths except maybe one or two characters who are just elderly. It’s a really heavy thing, and I think because we see it so often in movies/books we forget how weighty it really is. Because scenes move so fast, there’s little time to show the real affect it has on the characters. If you’re going have death of a important character, it’s going to really affect the others (Ik you know that lol), so it is a good motivation, but there’s plenty of other ones out there to choose from.

へびは　かっこいい　です！

[Whaley]

I agree with @mineralizedwritings – I am a huge advocate for letting your characters live, unless there’s a clear reason to kill them off. But if you really want to kill a character, like I said, there needs to be a clear reason – and that reason is usually the conclusion of that character’s arc, OR to be a force which gets the ball rolling in another character’s arc, OR to teach a particular virtue which is important for this particular story’s theme.

For example, I have a character who basically dies. (Actually, their identity ceases to exist because, by losing the will to linger, they cannot survive in this realm any longer, therefore cutting off their entire personality and history and sense of self, but I digress.) This character dies to portray a certain tragedy of this world – low self-esteem. Dying in this fashion is the best way to show off the character’s falling arc. Now there’s hope, kinda, but it’s not seen through…

Anyway, I’m probably not writing it the best way I could, but the point is, to give it a point. To make a point using the death.

But again, no death is better than death.

KaPeefers 'til we're old and gray...

[Esther]

@smiley

I know exactly how you feel. I’m planning to have at least two characters die, one physically and the other “emotionally” or I guess “psychologically.”

Like Whaley and Min said, there has to be a reason for killing that character. (Which is something I had asked a question about a little while ago.) Will their death finish their arc? Teach a lesson? Exemplify the theme? Help another character in their arc?

There are tons of different reasons why a character can die. All you have to do is figure out why your character has to die and if it’s really truly necessary.

Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende

[Author]

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