Killing Off Characters

Discussion in 'Character Development' started by MilesTro, Jun 23, 2013.

  1. JindleBrey

    JindleBrey New Member

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    I agree that it depends on the book.

    In Harry Potter lots of characters died, but they were all the right characters.
    In The Lord of the Rings, only one of the fellowship died, but keeping the other characters worked with the end of the story.

    In a long adventure story, I do believe it is necassary to kill a character(s), especially a strong one to create a sense of fear and vulnerability.
     
  2. Sheriff Woody

    Sheriff Woody Active Member

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    A character should only be killed if their death serves a story purpose. Offing someone for the sake of it or for sheer surprise is just a silly gimmick.

    If you want to kill a major character, make sure your story is anchored around that event. There must be purpose behind it.
     
  3. NavyRet98

    NavyRet98 New Member

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    A couple of my characters have died, simply because it's part of the reality of life. I didn't "kill" them, they simply died. I had no control over it.
     
  4. Benjamin Harris

    Benjamin Harris New Member

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    Killing off characters is something I'm having to seriously consider about as the novel I am planning to construct focuses on a trio of major characters. With that in mind, I find it difficult to balance the feeling of danger that the reader should experience regarding the characters and the harm that killing off a major character could cause to the integrity of the novel. I definitely want to avoid a '"red-shirt" minor character that it is obvious will be killed off either as I feel that it would remove from the realism of the novel. Whilst I won't go as far as G.R.R.Martin in terms of character removal, I never want to completely remove the feeling that the characters could be in peril.
     
  5. DeathandGrim

    DeathandGrim Senior Member

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    I hate killing off my characters (even villains) I grow fond of them as they develop however I've learned that the characters become better in death simply because of the impact on the story them not being there can have

    I don't like it but sometimes characters gotta go
     

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