Killing off characters? and emotions.

Depends on what the death is supposed to achieve - as GuardianWynn mentioned with Vegeta. If you're just killing them off for the hence of it, then the deaths are pretty much like dominos and in a way meaningless. Game of Thrones / Walking Dead are perfect examples, they quit being anything really worth watching - the theme is pretty much the same in every episode - and the only thing that keeps people coming back is yes to see who kicks the bucket next. For that to be the "motivation" to turn a page [or watch the next show] smacks of poor writing. I mean how is either - in that sense - any better than a poorly written version of Survivor (Island)? ... In one setting people simply die and the other they "die" by getting kicked off the island.

One thing - don't get overly attached to your characters. Even if you aren't going to kill them off getting overly attached means you'll start painting them in too "bright" a light - they're too perfect, etc., etc., etc. A layer of Mary Sue with a cherry on top.


For myself I've stabbed, blown up, had them sucked through an airplane/spacecraft window, poisoned, incinerated, beheaded, and "simple" suicide. That's not including the three minor characters & one main character I just "doddled" about killing in a car accident.... nothing more than the MC's fault, drunk driving & bad weather... recently while thinking through some writer's block for my non-fiction. Or the one character who literally bled to death like a "stuffed pig" due to his own stupidity.

There's numerous ways to kill someone - and some of them you'd never see coming. I killed some a**hole of a lawyer with his midday snack - all because an exotic spider had hitched a ride in the grapes.


On the other hand I have put off the death of the main female character in a book I have toyed with for years - one of these days I'll get the nuts together to publish it - by about three chapters. I could have killed her off sooner easily, without really cramping the book itself, but as I liked her so much she hung around. But she had to die otherwise the secondary main male character wouldn't have gotten the motivation to do what he has to do.

I think the worst character I killed off was Muffin the Spaniel. It was when I was much younger, before non-fiction took over for my writing theme, and co-writing a book with my cousin. The book is sort of a clichéd homeward bound theme and then you get to the end and it's ... wham, Muffin dead. It's a sort of wtf just happened ending and to this day I can't remember what possessed either of us to say it was a good idea...

 

I'm not saying to avoid writing deaths altogether, rather not to expect them to be shocking or thought provoking. How many times have we seen somebody lose a parent / sibling / child to an antagonist before revenge is declared?
If you can do something never seen before with a character death, then it can be gripping.

Recent examples I've seen include:

A hero forms a temporary truce with mortal enemy to defeat a greater evil, knowing they'll still be at each others' throats afterwards. The mortal enemy then kills the hero while his back is turned before being killed himself by the new enemy; other heroes look on in astonishment before realising that they've lost their greatest ally and must face the new threat without him.

Villain realises she's not truly evil, but doesn't have any direction or cause to fight for. After losing her extraordinary capabilities in an accident, she finds a way to regain her lost strength, but decides not to when the hero she's infatuated with tells her he likes her the way she is.
A bigger enemy comes along and threatens to end the entire universe, prompting the former villain to seek her old power so they can fight evenly. The new villain wins the fight and sets her destruction in motion; she dies before the destruction, but that was part of her plan.
The former villain then realises she can save everything if she sacrifices herself.
The hero (now badly wounded) says there has to be another way.
There isn't enough time to find a new solution, so the previous villainess says that she now has something to live for, even though she will die whether she sacrifices herself or not; doing so would save the hero she now loves and she gives her life, redeeming herself.

That second example was so well executed I'm thinking of doing something similar in my own series; I'm feeling sad about doing it, because the character will have been through a lot and I'll have invested a lot of time and effort in her, but if it makes for a great story and I can share it with other people, then it will be worth it.

 

Deaths are...easier than I expected. Or perhaps it's because I've not gotten to the specific chapter where the person dies. I know quite a few characters that will die, and I feel a trickle of sadness at the concept, especially when I too am surprised by their death. (Not intended, but the way the story spiraled demands it)

Still though, I can't really talk much about this subject because writing the "real" chapter where one of my favorite characters die will be harder than just planning ahead, I suppose.

 

While most of the people here feel sad, I feel the opposite. The death scenes in the stories I'd like to write, at least the significant death scenes, feel quite... glorious in nature. Of course, a death is naturally sad, but I plan to make the deaths of my major characters feel elating or bittersweet, or even happy. Maybe even inspiring to the reader. It gives my characters some sort of proper closure to their story, or their part in the story and provides quite a good contrast to the dark and bleak story they belong to.

 

It honestly depends. Ive read books where entire chapters are devoted to developing these side characters who ou come to like, but you already know they are going to die because they cross the protagonist, who was essentially a god. Personally I think unexpected or easily avoidable deaths are the best way to kill off a character, especially if they are very developed. The reason I think this is that it adds a certain humanity to th characters. Your character could be a hero who literally saved the world, only to choose a different way home one night and get murdered by an addict whilst he is of guard. In those cases it affects you more simply because you know that the death could have easily been prevented, but it want. It hits home harder.

 

I usually experience a feeling of sadness whenever I finish writing a manuscript. I have never killed off a main character before,but in my next novel I plan on doing so. It will be interesting to see how I feel when the time comes..