𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬 & 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬

killing a character

There are good and bad reasons to kill a character. I'll be going over how to effectively kill off a character for the right reasons.

CHECKLIST

Here are good reasons to kill a character:

- it advances the plot.

- it fulfills the doomed character's personal goal.

- it motivates other characters.

- it's a fitting recompense for the character's actions up to this point.

- it emphasizes the theme.

- it creates realism within the story world.

- it removes an extraneous character.

Here are bad reasons to kill a character:

- shocking readers just for the sake of shocking them. (If you kill a character for this reason, it doesn't do any good to the story.)

- making readers sad just for the sake of making them sad. ("If they cry, they buy." But readers never appreciate being tortured without good reason.)

- removing an extraneous character. (Yes, this is also a good reason. But double-check. If the character is extraneous, first verify he really belongs in the story in the first place.)

How to make a character's death sadder.
So now that you've killed a character, how do you make it sadder? Here's some tips:

- don't have them die of old age after a long, fulfilling life. Many people don't even think of this as sad.

- leave one of their major goals unfinished. The more enthusiastic they are about completing their goal, the sadder.

- give them strong relationships with other characters. (This will not only affect your readers, but also your other characters.)

- make them fight against whatever is causing their death. Their ultimate loss is sadder if they struggle.

- kill them in the middle of their character arc.

- don't describe their funeral in detail.

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In the next chapter I'll be talking about body language to help make your characters more realistic.