- This topic has 12 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 6 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
(WARNING SUPER LONG, RAMBLING, CHAOTIC POST. ALSO BIG SPOILER FOR WINGFEATHER SAGA IN ONE SECTION. IT IS WARNED AND CAN BE SKIPPED JUST WATCH FOR IT.)
Tags!!
@devastate-lasting @gracie-j @scripter-of-kingdoms @abigail-m @keilah-h@elishavet-pidyon @jodi-maile @annabelle @daisy-torres @koshka @trahia-the-minstrel @libby @lydia-s @e-k-seaver @issawriter7 @mkfairygirl @seekerofthetruth@kathleenramm @jenwriter17 @nanisnook @elfwing @seekjustice @sparrowhawke @maryg3 @relia @writerlexi1216 @nova21 @hallie-jean @faith-q @ariel-f @anyone-elseAs you can see by the THRILLING title….this is the place where we discuss character deaths….
Ahh… *sarcastic* so wonderful isn’t it?
Ok in all seriousness I made this forum because I…need some advice. Sigh. Ok. Here goes.
…….
I’m planning on killing off an MC in the Destined….*Braces for boos, jeers and rotten tomatoes. Gets smacked by tin can* Yes, yes, I know. It is a…rough decision, but one I believe must be made. That being said, the only one who knows this is my best friend (who I tell ALLLLL of the spoilers to. Literally she knows EVERYTHING about the series.) She also knows who it is.
BUT THERE IS A GLIMMER OF HOPE! (Maybe. That’s why I’m here actually hehehe.)
I’d gone back and forth with the idea of killing this character off for a long while. It had been planned in the beginning and then scrapped but after reading a certain series-
(WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE WINGFEATHER SAGA, MOVE ALONG, NOTHING TO SEE HERE. NO SERIOUSLY.)
Are u gone?
UGGGGGGGHHHHH MY HEART IS BROKEN….but I saw the beauty in that tragic ending (my darling Janner *sobs*) and that urged me on to finally commit to killing off this MC and leaving he/she dead
SPOILERS OVER YOU MAY CONTINUE!!!!!!!
BUT I am now back to struggling. I am definitely killing said character off, but….I really want to bring them back at the very end (in the prologue of the entire series as like a HUGE cliff hanger, leaving an open door for a sequel series which would be awesome.)
Thing is…I’m really conflicted. I don’t want it to cheapen the death but…I just also can’t imagine this character staying dead. So then that brings up the question “Why kill them in the first place?”
People say “Killing them just to move the plot along” isn’t a good idea, and I agree, and this is half that but it’s also a bit more. It brings the others into that new place most of them haven’t been to, but also the said character I’m killing was, out of all of them, the one who’d reached their character arc, so having them pass would be ok.
So THEN there’s the question “Why bring them back then?”
Well… 1. I’m an author, this is my baby, I love said character.
2. It’s not like a mentor character where the ppl grieve, move on, etc…this…is actually a love interest character. Meaning that the other half of the love interest ends up alone. And….that idea…really breaks my heart. But that makes things more difficult because that character’s arc is overcoming grief (which they do) AND IT’S JUST SO COMPLICATED UGH.
3. I have an AWESOME WAY to bring said character back that just….AGH it is sooooo cool and plot twisty and I love it (and it would be a way that wouldn’t cheapen it IMO)
But then….I think of that series mentioned above…and I get conflicted all over again…..siiiiiigh.
This has kinda been a rant post but….it’s just my thoughts and I’m being honest here. I REALLY don’t want this Charrie to stay dead. I REALLY DON’T. But….I also don’t want to do an injustice to the story itself ya know??
Any thoughts??
#IfMarcelDiesIRiot
#ProtectMarcel
#ProtectSebI’ve gone through this before too. It’s a hard decision. I did find this article, maybe it will help.
God bless,
Mary
INFJ/ChristianFiction/ IceCreamAddict/ StarGazer/ https://lamplighterletters.wixsite.com/mysite-1
Yeah, murdering characters is definitely one of those harder things about story plotting. I have a MIA in one of mine who won’t come back, even though part of me is testing that point pretty hard.
Oh…
huge Wingfeather spoilerwas so well written, but, ahh, it hurt. *Sniff*First Grand Historian of Arreth and the Lesser Realms (aka Kitty)
Fork the Gork@godlyfantasy12 Ah, yes. Killing off a character, and then bringing them back. Happened to me. Poor Howzer, sacrificing himself to kill a villain. I’m not sure why, but I started feeling bad about killing him off and had his friend Feather pull off a crazy plan to bring him back. Which worked. Maybe that was a bad idea, because now he and two of his brothers are fighting over her.
Yeah. So. I brought back a character, and now he’s stuck in a dramatic love triangle (tetrahedron, actually, since it’s three guys going after one girl?)
That tirade probably 0% helped, so I’ll offer some useful information now.
You said the arc for the character who lives is overcoming grief. Maybe have them get to that point before bringing the other back. Save it for the end, perhaps.
Also, I do agree that killing a character for the sheer sake of moving the plot along is not a good idea. But bringing them back…..As long as you have a good reason and a good way of doing it, I’d do it!
And yes, (character name)’s death was sad, but it had everything a writer needs to make it good–there was a reason, it represented the conclusion of his arc, it helped the other characters (if only by nearly destroying them), it was actually useful to the story, and it left the possibility open that there was still hope for him in the end.
By the way, when you said “prologue” of the story, do you mean “epilogue?” That kind of makes more sense.
Where'd I get ya this time? The liver? The kidney? I'm runnin' outta places to put holes in ya.
At least for me, even though I haven’t read a ton of stories with fake character deaths, I’ve read enough to know that it cheapens the plotline. I feel like killing MCs and resurrecting them is a common enough thing to do that when you do it, people don’t take you seriously. It takes away from the power of the MC’s death, especially when his death was for sacrificial purposes.
I’ve read multiple stories in which a character dies and multiple in which he dies and then comes back to life. You listed a great example of a character death that was incredibly impactful, and the Wingfeather Saga wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t for the powerful imagery and beauty that came with that death. On the other hand, you have The Staff and the Sword series by Patrick W. Carr. Even though this is arguably my favorite series of all time (seriously, it’s SOOOO good), a character in it dies and then comes back to life. This character died sacrificially, and coming back to life again took away from the story tremendously, in my opinion; honestly, it’s one of the only things I didn’t like about the series. You can’t know what it was like until reading the book (and I am NOT giving away who died), but in my opinion, you should only kill a character (with very few exceptions) if you have no intention of bringing them back to life; otherwise, it cheapens their death.
And, if still in doubt, just remember this: if it hurts you, it will undoubtedly hurt your readers. Your passion bleeds over onto the page. If in doubt, kill them off.
Wow, that sounded bad. Just kill them off…. kill them all!! Mwa haha…
Firstly, thank you for making this post. I don’t know how much wisdom I have to offer, since I am struggling with this same thing. Seriously, I have two characters that I am planning to kill,(one is doomed beyond hope since his death is literally the finale of his arc. The other may escape my sword. May being the operative word) But they just happen to be my favorites. Literally. I had mistakenly thought that if I’m the author, I can save my favorites.
Nope.
But here are some thoughts:
I hate hopeless deaths.
No, they may never “come back”, but I’ve lost enough loved ones, watched others lose them, to know that the grave being swallowed up in victory doesn’t have to mean that that person is physically-right-now resurrected. I fully intend for both my dear-and-beloved-yet-doomed charries to have resurrection – when the world is healed and death itself dies. However, the reader will get a glimpse of only one of those (since it’s an allegorical work, I plan to include a little epilogue of the King’s army of the Redeemed).
But by all temporary accounts, they will technically stay dead.
By the way, it’s a real comfort to the poor, distraught author to remember, “hey, it’s okay. I can’t totally kill them. They’ll see each other again.”
*Cue battle horn*
Okay, we get all that sermonish stuff, but what about bringing the character back mid-story?
I will wholeheartedly agree that a come back plot point like this can definitely weaken the death. We have the curious idea that if sorrow is healed that it was never authentic, that pain is not so strong if it is short-lived, and while I would say that this is a point on which our logic betrays us, that pain hurts no matter if it is wiped away, we have to remember that this is just how our minds work. (Or at least mine does, don’t know about yours)
When sacrifice is not carried out, we may doubt the intention or forget it’s depth.
This can obviously make things a little sour instead of sweet.
So make sure that whatever pain is worked through and is very real, whatever intentions are clear, and in the end if the character still wants to come alive again, if that resurrection will only strengthen the plot and not come across as “she wrote herself into a corner and just used the easiest way out”, then go for it!
And I totally get the love interest thing. Seriously, one of my characters leaves behind a widow. Talk about the guilt this author feels. 😉
So, that was long rant, but you literally managed to post something which I have been pondering. “Do I kill him, or not?”
You have listened to fears, child. Come, let me breathe on you... Are you brave again? -Aslan
@everyone 🤣
Sigh….it’s….rough yall….
I’m also going to seek out some advice from my mom (she’s pretty great at this kinda stuff)
@elishavet-pidyon what you said really helps.I wouldn’t be bringing the Charrie back because I wrote myself into a corner, and it wouldn’t be a “Deus Ex Machina” thing where like they’re all about to die and OH LOOK this persons not dead and saves the day.
this is how I’d do it, and I believe it would be good to leave it on a cliffhanger to start a new series, and hopefully not make anyone too upset but then again I just….dunno what I should do….
See, the way the Charrie dies is they’re shot by darkness and literally turn to dust and just disappear. But like, you know they’re dead.
at the VERY VERY end of the series. So the Epilogue, like the Wingfeather saga did, I’d bring the Charrie back. But my idea is this:
All of the chapters in the series are told in different POVs (in the third person) but the epilogue in the last book will not have a symbol to let you know who’s POV it is. Leaving the reader wondering who it is. So they don’t know it’s their previously dead character until like the very end of the epilogue.
the reason for this, the previously dead character, also doesn’t know they’re the previously dead character. They’ve woke up in darkness and have forgotten all but bits and pieces.
(I know what I mean in my head but trying to explain it might sound confusing lol.)
but honestly if possible I’d love to write a follow-up series or a few follow up books after this series. But I shared this just so y’all would understand how I’d bring the Charrie back if I did.
#IfMarcelDiesIRiot
#ProtectMarcel
#ProtectSeb*jumps on ceiling*
*sighs when nothing happens*
*appears from staircase*
I have no clue where you got the wall busting power but I NEED IT
HOWEVER, that is not why I’m here.
Character deaths.
Are just…
Ah!
*cries*
I actually have a functional problem in my world where people can’t really stay totally dead but I have a character who dies from sacrifice and I have to figure out how on earth to keep her dead… It’s a problem.
*realizes I’m ranting*
ALSO THE WINGFEATHER SAGA CHARACTER THOUGH. AH!!! THE STORY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN THE SAME WITHOUT IT!!!!!!!!!!
And yet there was HOPE!!!
So here’s what I say based on my experience: go where the world wants you to go. Which depending on who you are (and I’m guessing it’s the latter) either sounds really really bizarre or really really obvious.
BUT! Lest I sound obvious, allow me to elaborate.
As I mentioned earlier, it’s kind of impossible to keep my characters dead because of the simple mechanics of the world which were put in place before there were characters at hazard of dying.
Thus, I have two choices: dead characters do not remain so, or I manufacture a reason for them to stay dead. Which then feels forced. And stupid. And wastes massive amounts of time. So in other words, don’t. Just don’t. *glares pointedly at self*
So here’s what I’m getting to: you mentioned how your character is shot by darkness and then would wake up in darkness and only remember bits and pieces. WHICH IS AN IMMENSELY COOL IDEA AND NOW I WANT TO KNOW ALL ABOUT YOUR STORY BECAUSE SHOOTING DARKNESS IS SO COOL AND ALSO VERY SIMILAR TO MY WIP AND IT’S GREAT AND I WILL STOP FANGIRLING NOW but seriously. If that’s what fits with the world, then go for it.
Seriously.
If the death is real, and then the resurrection is real simply because that is how the world works, then in my opinion that does not cheapen the death. Especially if the characters have been allowed to grow between the death and the resurrection.
IF, on the other hand, you have to force the world to conform to your resurrection standards, EVEN JUST THE TINIEST AMOUNT, do! NOT! DO! IT!!! Because if it feels even a little forced to you, it will also feel that way to the readers.
And I realize I’m doing a TERRIBLE job of expressing my meaning.
I’m sowwy. *bows head in contrition*
Please ask for clarification if that did in fact make as little sense as I think it did…
I was one way, and now I am completely different. And the thing that happened in between was Him.
Actually that makes a ton of sense and I never thought of that!!! Thank you!! That actually helps quite a bit.
#IfMarcelDiesIRiot
#ProtectMarcel
#ProtectSeb*tosses that bucket of confetti from earlier into the air*
YES!!!!!!!!! I’M SO GLAD THAT WAS HELPFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
REEEEEEE
*dances in crazed circles*
I was one way, and now I am completely different. And the thing that happened in between was Him.
Yay! I’m glad it was somewhat helpful, infact, I think it helped me!
Yeah, that sounds awesome! If it’s what you think your story (or charrie) needs, then definitely go for it.
And I will admit, I love it when a character lives. I mean, yes, it’s extremely powerful when they don’t as well, but why else would I want to show _____(name omitted) in the epilogue?
Epilogues are, by the way, wonderfully useful little things.
You have listened to fears, child. Come, let me breathe on you... Are you brave again? -Aslan
This might not be the best advice by a long shot, but you seem like you’re REALLY in love with the idea of bringing them back. Like I can just feel how much you love this idea and your excitement to write it. And I guess for me, that’s the best reason to follow through with the idea! It’s your story at the end of the day, and if this is what you really want, you’d be surprised how many other readers really want it too!!!! Hope this helps, and girl, I AM DYING TO READ THIS BOOK!!!! Like I HAVE to know who’s gonna die!!!
God gives His hardest battles to His strongest soldiers.
TeenWritersNook.comOoooOoOoOoOooo… Yeah, I’ve been there… Trying to make the choice of whether or not to let a beloved character go (whether by death or by joining the “bad guys”) is SO HARD.
I guess, for me, it came down to reality, predictability, and cliche-ness (pretty sure that’s not a word, but, oh well!😂). The character I had this problem with is probably one of my favorites. He’s sarcastic, over-dramatic, pessimistic, but definitely has his mellow side. Unfortunately, he’s also a traitor. I had to decide whether I could bring him back to the right side (which I really wanted to do), or if I had to let him go.
I knew how I wanted to bring him back (even wrote the scene…), but, in the end… I chose the latter, bc 1) as horrible as it is, some people refuse to allow the Lord to change them (which breaks my heart); 2) his daughter—who’d been his accomplice—was already going to return to the truth, and I didn’t want the series to feel predictable; and 3) it just seemed cliche for the big bad guy to reform.
For you, though, it sounds like the case is a bit different. I think you could definitely pull off a fake-death that makes sense, but, if I were you, I’d just make sure it helps the story. I’d think through questions like:
- Why am I bringing them back? Is it just bc I love them, or is it bc it also improves the story?
- Is it predictable?
- How did they manage to not die, and does it make sense/is it possible?
So, yeah! Honestly, I like bittersweet endings a lot… 😉 Whatever you do, tho, I know it’ll be awesome!!! Go get ‘em, girl!
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.