My youngest child is finally reading my science fiction series. Written as adult fiction, thematically it just isn’t appropriate for younger teens. But, she’s old enough now and has a pile of my books next to her bed. She’s already texted me, demanding to know WHY I KILLED THAT CHARACTER? And she wants to have a conversation regarding some of my narrative choices. It’s interesting when your kids have a creative streak themselves!
I’m working on my latest manuscript, and a few characters will be meeting an unfortunate end for sure. This got me thinking about when and how we kill off characters in our work, especially beloved ones. It’s becoming more mainstream to take out an important lead for dramatic effect - think Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. Killing off a character in a believable, meaningful way has tremendous impact, but taking someone out every season becomes predictable.
Achieving the correct balance in writing is tricky. On the one hand, we don’t want to traumatize our readers for shock value alone. On the other hand, if we are writing in genres with danger around every corner, it seems inevitable that someone will have to go. We lose believability if everyone makes it home in one piece.
If we are going to kill a character, that death should have purpose. It can be a motivating factor for other characters’ actions. It can be a necessary and believable outcome of events. It can be used to push the plot forward.
Once a character has died, showing the aftermath and effect on the other characters is imperative. We need to see their grief, anger, and maybe, ultimately their acceptance. A death can provide dramatic moments and add authenticity to the story, but killing a character should never be gratuitous.
So, when my daughter corners me and asks why I killed a character, this is what I’ll tell her!
In other news…
You may have read that I’ll be sending out Monday Musings on the 1st and 3rd Monday of the month, and my alter ego, Maggie Clare, will be sending out a newsletter on the 2nd and 4th Monday. If you’re interested in receiving that one (the content and tone will be a little different) you can sign up on Maggie’s website here: msmaggieclare.com.