#killing characters

[slayingfiction]

The Intricacies of Crafting Character Deaths in Storytelling

Elevating Narrative Through Character Deaths

Character deaths wield the unique ability to transform the narrative landscape, serving pivotal roles that extend beyond the confines of plot advancement. They are moments ripe with potential to:

Deepen Plot Dynamics: The departure of a character can catalyze significant plot developments, altering the course of the narrative and presenting new challenges and dynamics for the characters left behind. This not only propels the story forward but also introduces complexity and unpredictability.

Enhance Character Arcs: The ramifications of a character's demise are felt most acutely in the evolution of surviving characters. Witnessing or grappling with loss can reveal hidden depths, trigger transformations, and redefine motivations, thereby enriching character arcs with nuanced layers of growth and introspection.

Amplify Thematic Resonance: Character deaths can serve as poignant reflections of the story's underlying themes—be it the fragility of life, the inevitability of change, or the nature of sacrifice. These moments offer a mirror to the thematic heart of the narrative, inviting deeper contemplation and emotional engagement from the audience.

Forge Emotional Connections: At its core, the impact of a character's death hinges on its ability to evoke a profound emotional response. This connection not only cements the audience's investment in the narrative but also elevates the storytelling experience, making it memorably resonant.

Discerning the Whys and Why Nots of Character Deaths

The decision to write a character out of a story should stem from a place of narrative integrity rather than convenience or shock value.

Valid Reasons Include:

Narrative Necessity and Integrity: A character's death should feel like a natural culmination of the narrative's direction and themes, serving as an essential link in the chain of the story's development rather than an arbitrary twist.

Emotional and Thematic Depth: If the demise meaningfully enriches the narrative's emotional landscape or underscores its thematic concerns, it justifies the inclusion.

Conversely, character deaths can detract from the story when:

Solely for Shock Value: Utilizing death merely as a tool for surprise can undermine the narrative's depth, leading to moments that feel unearned or manipulative.

For Plot Convenience: Eliminating a character simply to untangle complex plot threads can be perceived as a shortcut, cheapening the narrative's overall craftsmanship.

Crafting Deaths with Lasting Impact

The resonance of a character's death is profoundly influenced by the narrative groundwork laid both before and after the event.

Prior to the Death:

Robust Character Development: Investing time in developing the character ensures that the audience forms a meaningful bond, amplifying the impact of their loss.

Strategic Foreshadowing: Implementing subtle hints about the character's fate can enhance the sense of inevitability and poignancy of their demise, while still preserving the element of surprise.

Narrative Integration: The potential death should be deeply intertwined with the story's fabric, ensuring it feels like a consequential event rather than an isolated incident.

Following the Death:

Showcase Reactions: Illustrating the emotional and practical aftermath of the death through the eyes of surviving characters adds layers of realism and depth to the narrative.

Honor the Legacy: Exploring how the deceased character's influence persists, whether through the memories of others, the impact of their actions, or ongoing storylines they set in motion, can enrich the narrative's continuity and emotional resonance.

Mindful Tone Setting: The narrative tone in the wake of the death should reflect its significance, allowing both characters and audience adequate space to navigate their grief and find closure.

Navigating the Ethical Landscape

Writers must tread carefully, mindful of the ethical implications and the messages their stories convey through the depiction of death. It's crucial to handle such moments with sensitivity, avoiding the trivialization of loss or perpetuation of harmful stereotypes. Moreover, understanding genre expectations and audience sensibilities can guide the frequency and portrayal of character deaths, ensuring they enrich rather than detract from the storytelling experience.

Conclusion

The decision to conclude a character's journey through death is a formidable aspect of storytelling, demanding careful consideration and thoughtful execution. By anchoring these moments in narrative necessity, emotional depth, and ethical sensitivity, writers can craft deaths that not only serve the story but also offer a lasting impact on the audience. Such carefully navigated departures not only underscore the stakes and depth of the narrative but also foster a deeper emotional connection between the story and its readers. Ultimately, the art of writing character deaths is about balance—between advancing the plot and honoring the emotional journey of the audience, between the shock of loss and the narrative necessity, and between the finality of death and the enduring legacy of a character’s impact.

Happy Writing!

See Slaying Fiction for more fun content.

#writer #writing #tumblr writers #novel writing #fiction #writeblr #creative writing #writing advice #writing community #writing tips #fictional characters #Character death #death scene #killing characters

[v-v-jones]

#meme monday #author #writing #writers #writerslife #writing memes #author meme #writer memes #writer problems #author problems #among us #among us memes #emergency meeting #character death #killing characters

[theyoungwritersmind-aristanelson]

#writers #authors #novelists #writers are killers #writers are cruel #writers do what needs to be done #writer memes #writers meme #author meme #just writer things #writer stuff #things writers do #writers will kill your favorite character #killing characters

[coruscantiscribbler]

I know that your writing experience is quite broad, so you seem the best candidate for this question.

Welcome back to my virtual Asker’s Studio™️ with my very real 🐈‍⬛

More than any other author I read (which I admit is quite a limited spectrum of individuals) you seem to pay close attention to canon, adherence to plot, and consistency in general. If logic deems it, and the story arc demands it…the character dies.

My question to you is: have you ever had a serious battle over killing off a character? Has there been a case in which you defied logic and allowed the individual to live? On the flip side, have you ever killed a character off and experienced pushback from your readers? Finally, have you ever regretted killing off a character and actually wanted a re-do?

I will offer that one of the last solo fics that I wrote dealt with the death of a beloved character. The resulting melancholy led to an existential crisis and the worst case of writer’s block.

As you know, while I have not had the opportunity lately to invest in comments, I DO love your fic, We Regret.

I'm pretty brutal about my characters, and since I have a pretty detailed outline before I start to write I know in advance who lives and who dies, and I almost never deviate from that. The outline shows me what will and will not work so I'm pretty confident about my choices.

But it is a struggle and, in fact, I'm facing it right now. I'm closing in on the end of a novel and I had planned to kill the main character who I have written now for four books. And I really don't want to, particularly because I know what it will do to his husband. And I think there is a way to not kill him that will still be satisfying, But....

If I get to the end of this and it just feels wrong then I'm going to have to suck it up and let the character die. And since one of the big themes of this book is "We are all made of star stuff", I rather sense that the poor fellow is going to have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

I really expected to get pushback in one novel when I killed the boyfriend, but oddly it didn't happen and I'm not sure why. Maybe because there was another man (vampire) in the mix who loved her. I've had people say it made them sad, but that's okay, I want the story to evoke emotions in the readers. They sure as hell evoke emotions in me. To wit --

I have never actively regretted killing a character because of that outline thing I know it's necessary. But in the moment it is extremely painful to do what must be done. I've actually sat at my desk and wept after I finish writing one of those death scenes.

In some ways it's easier to kill a hero than to kill a villain who has been redeemed. You feel regret that they never got to find some peace and solace after their change of heart.

#writing #killing characters

[lifedoesntgiveashit]

You know what is coming, you saw all the signs and you are prepared.                You tried everything to stop it from coming, you paused and thought about what is to come.                                                                                                      You knew what was happening and yet, it surprised you.                                    It was inevitable and yet, it caught you blindsided.

#Its two am #im crying #and writing #maybe running away is not such a bad idea at all #killing characters #and myself #not really tho

[nosebridgepinch]

Title: Heart As Full As A Baked Potato Fandom: South Park Rating: T Pairing: Stan/Wendy Summary: When an ice skating accident goes horribly wrong, Stan wakes up in the hospital being told they accidentally replaced his heart with a baked potato. Luckily he got more than three seconds to live. Now he lives on a steady diet of butter, sour cream, bacon bits, and chives…as well as the kisses of Wendy Testaburger.

Nothing more to do but go home. But what if Stan was offered sponsorship for being famous as the boy with the potato heart. So much that he gets his own video game featuring other fast food mascots. Not like anything else can go wrong when Eric Cartman is your manager and you're raking in the money. Especially when you're ignoring your most trusted friends.

Killing Characters April, yeah I know its really really late. I got really into this one, its very cracky.

#killing characters #south park #south park fanfiction #stan marsh #wendy testaburger #kenny mccormick #kyle brovlofski #eric cartman #Crack fic #crack treated seriously #Killing a character once a month

[fearsomeandwretchedandwrong]

No offense but I could not care less about the Hopper in Russian prison storyline. Should've just let him be dead.

Also I still hate Jopper.

#killing characters #only to bring them back immediately #makes the death meaningless #its emotionally manipulative #a cheap ploy to shock and upset audiences without having to deal with the repurcussions #that being said #lucius better damn well be alive in ofmd #stranger things season 4 #stranger things spoilers #stranger things #jim hopper

[cirrocula]

my rendition of the steven panel

#jason and bubbie would enable each other to kill ppl tbh #steven universe meme #jason todd #batman #dcu #bubbie #flapjack #art #my art #illustration #artists on tumblr #comfort character

[lazylittledragon]

the only thing scarier than vampire lords/mind flayers/death cults is meeting the in-laws

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #astarion #tavstarion #i feel like he’s good at schmoozing but i’m not sure how much he would actually Enjoy it #he gives me extroverted introvert #being surrounded by a few hundred very pretty wood elves for a weekend is probably quite nice though #he might have a bitch sesh with dorian’s sisters #also i will keep making his outfits cuntier if it kills me #what’s that post about how wyll is the only character you could realistically bring home without disaster

[curioscurio]

I'm rewatching Steven Universe and I will never forgive Fandom for what it did to her

#also watching it at age 19-20 as it was released and experiencing the resulting clusterfuck online fandom response was a wild trip #im finally rewatching it again at 25 and really really feel lucky to have seen it at the age i did #i have completely different perspective on it now that i have 3 young nephews and a neice where before i was in college #the music is still as incredible as it was back then #and the animation #i cant beleive people got honestly and truly upset and violently aggressive about characters being off model sometimes #early stevens voice though kills me after awhile...... the yelling .... but his characters growth and development also being reflected in #his voice changing as he grows up #they also go crazy hard on some scenes #who am i kidding the show was a masterpiece and ahead of its time

[bananonbinary]

jfc i just saw a "morally grey girlboss" poll and mabel pines was one of the contenders. she's not morally grey she's not a girlboss she's 12 and never makes a single moral decision that's worse than "you have stuff going on but i'm focused on my own problems" what are you fucking talking about

#fan wank / #she's up against characters who have done actual murders #and she's getting a nontrivial amount of votes!!! #yall have brainrot i am sorry #i saw the poll because she was up against one of the MECHANISMS #you know. the band of immortal space pirates that think killing is fun? #i understand that more people watch gf but HOW WAS SHE GETTING ANY VOTES #honestly if i saw her matched against someone i didnt know i'd vote for the person i didnt know. she simply does not meet the requirements

[v-v-jones]

My writing style involves killing all your favorite characters and still calling it a happy ending😅😈

#writing #author #meme monday #writers #writerslife #writing memes #author meme #writer memes #wip #writer problems #killing characters #character death #happy ending #HEA

[canisalbus]

✦ Cockroach ✦

#own art #own characters #CanisAlbus #art #artists on tumblr #Vasco #Machete #comics #anthro #sighthound #dogs #canine #animals #modern au #immoral-majority #are you implying Vasco isn't a big hunky hero #I think he'd go for the pacifist route and just take it outside #you can't kill a bug by dropping it from a balcony I don't think that's possible #my comics are ~riveting~ #I guess it's just nice drawing them doing the most mundane things that serve no story purpose and have no punchline or anything #inconsequential slice of life stuff #dropping bugs from balconies #Machete is more afraid of horses than cockroaches

[lilybug-02]

Pain is a great motivator…

Part 26 || First || Previous || Next

—Full Series—

Meanwhile Toriel:

(Loud noises don't wake her up usually.)

Artist note: I’m so proud of this :))) I know it’s a lot of dialogue and reading, but dialogue is grueling work for me. I’m glad with the art and for the amount of pages I made in such a relatively short time span -w- page 5 was super fun to work on. A lot of blood, sweat, and hours here... :) The backgrounds were a big bore tbh, but I finished them! Yippie!

#CHARA WTF DO YOU MEAN “COMPUTER”???? #lol i hope you guys dont hate me for what im doing in the next update. #IS THAT A MAC OS??? #Yes......owo'' #Kris and the Gang are LITTLE now. I've pixelated them and turned them into little game characters! #FINALLY!! #I never thought I would be going so far in the story to explain WHY Kris pulls out their SOUL and opens Darkfountains even when they killed #Berdly in Chapter 2. Pain can make people do horrible things. #Uhhhhhhhhh anyways. :3 I hope you liked it! I made this post a little too long for my liking and didnt get it out when i wanted too- #but thats okay! As long as people enjoy it :) #bread #art #deltarune chara timeline #deltarune chara timeline comic #seriously though #long post #man am I glad I switched over to the limited color palet! It helps me feel alot more relaxed uwu #This is....way over 16 hours of work q-q #chara #asriel #susie #kris #asriel dreemurr #kris dreemurr #kris deltarune #susie deltarune #deltarune #comic #my art

[fjaskgf]

angel sketches that did well on twitter

#my art #my ocs #original character #angel #let's kill some demons

[t4tails]

im starting to think you guys dont like it when stories make you feel things

#og post #emotional impact is like the number 1 reason to kill a character ??