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  1. SeverinR

    SeverinR New Member

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    Do you have a newbie in your landing party?

    Discussion in 'Character Development' started by SeverinR, May 11, 2011.

    In (older)tv shows there were givens.
    Lone ranger:
    When Tonto went to town he got beat up.
    Star Trek:
    When a new person was in the landing party, he would be the one to be killed.

    The book I am reading,(Alta) the author just killed a likable secondary character,
    and my first thought, she killed the lovable centaur again.

    Spoiler alert (there are 2 princes in the story so it doesn't give away to much)
    (The helpful friendly young energetic centaur scout was killed suddenly in a previous book*, the likable prince was killed suddenly in the book I am reading now.) (*I am still mad at the author for killing her off, and that was four books ago.)

    1.Is there a pattern in your stories that repeat? I know some we don't notice, but some we might.
    2.Do you put in "dead characters walking" in your stories? Created just to hook your reader into liking them and then kill them off?
     
  2. spklvr

    spklvr Contributor Contributor

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    1.Is there a pattern in your stories that repeat? I know some we don't notice, but some we might.
    - Not as I've noticed. Maybe that there always seems to be a person who is more or less crazy. Whether it's slice of life or fantasy I'm writing, there is always a crazy person. Sometimes several.

    2.Do you put in "dead characters walking" in your stories? Created just to hook your reader into liking them and then kill them off?
    - Kind of, but I don't always try to get the reader attached to them. Depends on why I'm killing them and how important they are. If they are there just to be killed a few pages later, I try to not let the reader get attached. However, if the character and their death is important to the story, I try to get them as emotionally attached as possible :p
    But they rarely die until we're closing in on the end.
     
  3. JimFlagg

    JimFlagg New Member

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    Welcome to the forum. You should look around because there is a Book Reading thread for books and a welcome thread for new comers.

    By the way, here is your red shirt. Try not to get shot or eaten.
     
  4. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

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    If by this you mean writing by formula, then the answer is no. If you mean certain recurring themes, then I would say probably. But then anyone who has written more than one work would probably say the same thing.

    I've created characters whom I knew were going to die in the story, but it was because it was where the story had to go The fact that they die has to serve the story, or else the character doesn't belong there in the first place. Example: in my band novel, I knew that one of the characters was going to die the first moment I conceived the plot in my head. Did I create him "just to hook the reader into liking him and then kill him off"? Well, I hoped the reader would like him; I certainly do. So did the other characters, who were drawn together to help him. The character who dies (Corky) gives one character redemption and another a fresh start in life. As for the rest, I'll leave that to others.
     
  5. SeverinR

    SeverinR New Member

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    I don't see any new members.

    I was asking about peoples writng more then discussing one book.

    Did the star trek person always wear a red shirt? I wasn't that big a trekie.
     
  6. DeNile

    DeNile New Member

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    ^Yes, red shirts exist to kill. It was a joke I think, or a refrence. Either way, there is no new person. But the point was that all red shirts will die. Mauve shirts are a step up, they get development, they get liked THEN they are killed. Look it up on TV Tropes.
     
  7. Lord Malum

    Lord Malum New Member

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    1.Is there a pattern in your stories that repeat?

    The only pattern I've ever picked up on was the pattern of never finishing! Hopefully I'll be able to break that pattern with the story I'm writing now.

    2.Do you put in "dead characters walking" in your stories? Created just to hook your reader into liking them and then kill them off?

    Almost always. A likable character getting killed in a meaningful or unexpected way makes you think that even the MC is vulnerable to being killed. That way I expect my readers to root for my MC even more.
     
  8. Yoshiko

    Yoshiko Contributor Contributor

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    1. I wonder~ probably? Aside from similar themes, I always have three central characters but I'm not sure if there is anything else. I imagine there are others but they're probably things I'm so used to that I don't really notice.

    2. No. In fact, I rarely kill off characters. If I do then it'll only be one character in the novel rather than many. Too many doesn't feel realistic unless your characters work in a field where this might be appropriate. Actually, I've spent the last three nights watching a ten-episode mystery series called "Puzzle" in full and the only thing that annoyed me was the unrealistic number of deaths in it. The main characters weren't cops or investigators or anything - it was an English (language) teacher and three of her students! :rolleyes:
     
  9. Mungo

    Mungo New Member

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    1.Is there a pattern in your stories that repeat? I know some we don't notice, but some we might.

    In my current novel there are five chapters that involve the introductions of important side characters. I'm really worried that this pattern will bore the reader. It's not as though the characters are presented in the same exact way, but still...

    2.Do you put in "dead characters walking" in your stories? Created just to hook your reader into liking them and then kill them off?

    I planned one, but he's turning out to be detrimental to my main character's development. I will edit him out in my second draft.
     

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