Day 17
Part of my problem is that I care TOO much about ALL of my characters. That's why I have such a hard time when I feel like I have to kill one. Death is hard enough in real life, I personally hate when it invades books and movies. Usually I just want an adventure in a book.
If I do end up having to kill a character, I hope I can do it in a way that isn't too brutal and heart wrenching.
23,696 words
The difficulty a reader experiences with the loss of a character is a fine gauge of how well you've developed that character for the reader. A reader won't be upset if you kill off some two-dimensional person in your story, but they will probably be a little turned off at the inclusion of that character because they didn't connect with them. However, even though it's hard to lose that person in the story you really love, meaning that transcends what you could've done by sparing their life is conveyed to the reader and the story is strengthened.
ReplyDeleteMeaningless killing of characters angers a reader, but a completely necessary loss might sadden the reader, but be acceptable. Those moments of loss are impacting and draw your reader in more to the reality that you are creating.
Something I've learned, death is inevitable, but it's often used as an easy way out of conflict. Don't use death as a way to resolve conflict. That is, don't kill the bad guy simply to make the good guy win. It's a lot more interesting to see people mess up their lives and have to live through it. It really muddies things up, and that's what life ultimately is, a muddy trek through heartache and victory.
ReplyDeleteSo, I'm pro-choice and Aaron is pro-life concerning your characters. But...pro-life has never sounded so messy before. It sounds intriguing. Okay, I'm pro-life now.
ReplyDeleteLol, honestly, I've thought about it a LOT, and I think the only way to actually give my story the meaning that I want to convey is to kill one of my favorite characters.
ReplyDeleteIt would be sacrificial, and unfortunately I even think the bad guy lives... but the impact of killing this character will make the story. I'm pretty sure it's the only thing I can do, but I'll be MORE sure once I get there.
There might be a FORCE of evil developing too. I'm not entirely sure my bad guy is acting alone, see Day 18.
Like I said, I'll know more the closer I get, but at this point, I don't see any other resolve for the evil in this story. It's a pretty hard evil to defeat.