Killing people

mr ploppy · 07-13-2011, 07:48 AM

Does anyone feel a bit guilty about killing the people who live in their heads? Do you ever use your god-powers to rewrite their destiny as a result?

Native · 07-13-2011, 11:23 AM

I sometimes get all weepy over the pain I bring upon innocent imagination, but on the other hand, some figments deserve it. Such demons are hard to control so it's out of my hands anyway.

Harper Kingsley · 07-13-2011, 06:46 PM

Sometimes I feel like maybe people are going to yell at me about killing off their favorite characters, but I don't feel that bad about doing it. Mostly when I first come up with the story idea, I have a general idea of who I'm going to have murdered or whatever, so it's like the runt of the litter--you feel affectionate, but you can't get too lovey on them because there's a good chance they're not going to make it.

VydorScope · 07-13-2011, 08:32 PM

My wife gets attached to characters fast. In one book she is reading there was a character who was introduced and killed in a few paragraphs... and in her words she as "distraught" over it.

mr ploppy · 07-14-2011, 05:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harper Kingsley

Mostly when I first come up with the story idea, I have a general idea of who I'm going to have murdered or whatever, so it's like the runt of the litter--you feel affectionate, but you can't get too lovey on them because there's a good chance they're not going to make it.

That's probably where I went wrong. I wanted it to leave an impact, so I went out of my way to make him the most likeable character right from the start.

Native · 07-14-2011, 04:15 PM

Sounds like you're doing the right thing. I can't imagine such convenient bliss as to live without hard choices. And when people working behind the curtain still get drawn into the show, it must be pretty good. You'll just have to suffer the pangs of care.

crich70 · 07-14-2011, 04:28 PM

It's been said that a writer is God to his/her story world so I don't see a way that such life & death decisions for this or that character can be avoided. The author has to know enough about a given character to write convincingly about them, and sometimes a story will require that this or that character bites the dust. Anything else would be unrealistic and while we want to escape the 'real' world when we read we also expect certain things to be maintained, one of which is that death is part of the world fictional or real.

joycedb · 07-14-2011, 06:18 PM

I don't like killing off characters, but sometimes it's necessary to further the story. Of course, I never kill off the main characters. That would defeat the purpose of the book.

Joyce

Xanthe · 07-15-2011, 12:57 AM

What do you folks think about authors who become seemingly incapable of killing off any of the "regular" characters who appear in a series, when situations occur where the character should have met his or her natural or unnatural demise? When the characters become so real in the author's mind that he/she just cannot eliminate them, even though the story arc suffers? How can you recover a series that is stagnating because of something like that, without a wholesale slaughter that would alienate the core readership?

Prestidigitweeze · 07-15-2011, 02:21 AM

I tend to feel more like the dying character than some god who's condemned them.

If I'm writing an important female character's death, for example, I don't just picture and hear her. I also try to become her -- to understand how it feels to be her -- so that her demise isn't reducible to a message, plot point or side effect of my male gaze. If her death is supposed to matter to the reader, then I have to be able to channel her point of view. It isn't enough to use style and tone to convey the loss, or to have other characters emote over the sadness of her passing.

VydorScope · 07-15-2011, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xanthe

? How can you recover a series that is stagnating because of something like that, without a wholesale slaughter that would alienate the core readership?

There are other ways to handle that other then death. Old core characters can be phased out through retirement, old age, training a replacement, moving away, chasing some dream far away, or etc.

joycedb · 07-15-2011, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VydorScope

There are other ways to handle that other then death. Old core characters can be phased out through retirement, old age, training a replacement, moving away, chasing some dream far away, or etc.

This would give the author the opportunity to retire the old series and create a new one. And if the readers don't accept the new series, you can have the older character come out of "retirement" and resume his duties.

Joyce

James_Wilde · 07-18-2011, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

Does anyone feel a bit guilty about killing the people who live in their heads? Do you ever use your god-powers to rewrite their destiny as a result?

Having second thoughts about the mall business? Or did the mall owners turn you down?

Try writing a book with a happy ending, and this problem won't arise.

mr ploppy · 07-19-2011, 05:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James_Wilde

Try writing a book with a happy ending, and this problem won't arise.

Do I look like a girl?

G J Lau · 07-19-2011, 05:53 AM

Sometimes killing off a character is the happy ending.

07-13-2011, 07:48 AM	#1
mr ploppy Feral Underclass Posts: 3,622 Karma: 26821535 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Yorkshire, tha noz Device: 2nd hand paperback	Killing people Does anyone feel a bit guilty about killing the people who live in their heads? Do you ever use your god-powers to rewrite their destiny as a result?

07-15-2011, 02:21 AM	#10
Prestidigitweeze Fledgling Demagogue Posts: 2,384 Karma: 31132263 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: White Plains Device: Clara HD; Oasis 2; Aura HD; iPad Air; PRS-350; Galaxy S7.	I tend to feel more like the dying character than some god who's condemned them. If I'm writing an important female character's death, for example, I don't just picture and hear her. I also try to become her -- to understand how it feels to be her -- so that her demise isn't reducible to a message, plot point or side effect of my male gaze. If her death is supposed to matter to the reader, then I have to be able to channel her point of view. It isn't enough to use style and tone to convey the loss, or to have other characters emote over the sadness of her passing. Last edited by Prestidigitweeze; 07-15-2011 at 02:26 AM.

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07-13-2011, 11:23 AM	#2
Native Cozy Bumpkin Stories Posts: 66 Karma: 351904 Join Date: May 2011 Location: Sprague River, Oregon Device: none	I sometimes get all weepy over the pain I bring upon innocent imagination, but on the other hand, some figments deserve it. Such demons are hard to control so it's out of my hands anyway.

07-13-2011, 06:46 PM	#3
Harper Kingsley Clone Trooper Posts: 212 Karma: 4566103 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Washington Device: kindle	Sometimes I feel like maybe people are going to yell at me about killing off their favorite characters, but I don't feel that bad about doing it. Mostly when I first come up with the story idea, I have a general idea of who I'm going to have murdered or whatever, so it's like the runt of the litter--you feel affectionate, but you can't get too lovey on them because there's a good chance they're not going to make it.

07-13-2011, 08:32 PM	#4
VydorScope Wizard Posts: 3,418 Karma: 35207650 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: iPad	My wife gets attached to characters fast. In one book she is reading there was a character who was introduced and killed in a few paragraphs... and in her words she as "distraught" over it.

07-14-2011, 04:15 PM	#6
Native Cozy Bumpkin Stories Posts: 66 Karma: 351904 Join Date: May 2011 Location: Sprague River, Oregon Device: none	Sounds like you're doing the right thing. I can't imagine such convenient bliss as to live without hard choices. And when people working behind the curtain still get drawn into the show, it must be pretty good. You'll just have to suffer the pangs of care.

07-14-2011, 04:28 PM	#7
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,305 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	It's been said that a writer is God to his/her story world so I don't see a way that such life & death decisions for this or that character can be avoided. The author has to know enough about a given character to write convincingly about them, and sometimes a story will require that this or that character bites the dust. Anything else would be unrealistic and while we want to escape the 'real' world when we read we also expect certain things to be maintained, one of which is that death is part of the world fictional or real.

07-14-2011, 06:18 PM	#8
joycedb Guru Posts: 997 Karma: 1086596 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Florida Device: none	I don't like killing off characters, but sometimes it's necessary to further the story. Of course, I never kill off the main characters. That would defeat the purpose of the book. Joyce

07-15-2011, 12:57 AM	#9
Xanthe Plan B Is Now In Force Posts: 1,894 Karma: 8086979 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Surebleak Device: Aluratek,Sony 350/T1,Pandigital,eBM 911,Nook HD/HD+,Fire HDX 7/8.9,PW2	What do you folks think about authors who become seemingly incapable of killing off any of the "regular" characters who appear in a series, when situations occur where the character should have met his or her natural or unnatural demise? When the characters become so real in the author's mind that he/she just cannot eliminate them, even though the story arc suffers? How can you recover a series that is stagnating because of something like that, without a wholesale slaughter that would alienate the core readership?

07-19-2011, 05:53 AM	#15
G J Lau Zealot Posts: 126 Karma: 415116 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Frederick MD Device: Nook	Sometimes killing off a character is the happy ending.