In my story, a man 'Al' kills his cousin's husband, 'Nav' accidentally. Which one of these ideas are original, realistic and interesting (murder isn't a good thing, but by interesting I mean it would be magnetic)? If none, any idea that comes to your mind? I'll probably make a list of ideas and pick out the best or create a new one from the information, so brainstorm away! Thanks in advance.
For some reason the poll is not working. Here's a list of the ideas i had: 1. Car accident 2. Nav comes into his apartment to see him and out of fright his hits him with a bottle/ kitchen knife/etc. 3. Al is a drinker, so Nav accidentally gulps in a bit too much, not knowing it's alcohol - this kind of vague... 4. Al unwillingly pushes Nav off a bridge/building/boat/etc. 5. Nav has an accident outside his apartment, but Al does not help him not knowing he is a relative of his.
It's all in the way you write it, but can you imagine the feelings of guilt and emotional turmoil being so intensified in #5?
To that, I'll add that the points to be conveyed by the murder are basically two. One, he did contribute to it because of his stinginess/arrogance/heartlessness. Two, he is not at all guilty about it because he is like 'oh well, I didn't know. He was gonna die anyway.' So I guess that's the intensity of the situation I want to portray. And I guess you believe the intensity is at its peak in #5?
Al helps Nav with a car repair / gas stove repair (something of that nature), but does a shoddy job of it (he's in a hurry, or is drinking as he does the work, ...). Nav's car carshes, or the stove explodes or leaks poisonous gas, and Nav dies from Al's carelessness.
Because obviously the cousin will see it that way and Al will see it that way. I think Al should kill Nav to protect his cousin from him. Like, Nav borrowed money from the mafia and they'd come after Al's cousin, so Al kills him, or Nav is an abusive husband, but the cousin loves him anyway. Usually when that happens the person is all remorseless, but it would be nice to see someone remorseful of a justified killing. Even better for the first one if Al likes Nav but kills him anyway to protect his cousin. Blood and water and all that.
How about, Nav has an accident outside his apartment and becomes severely disabled. Al murders Nav in hospital out of mercy as Nav once told him to kill him if that ever happened. So? How about it. Mercy killing. You could even have the image of Nav dead haunting Al. Burnt into his mind. Just a suggestion.
My mistake. Bail me? Well...I think I better give you an idea of what's going on. Al is the bad guy, but Nav is not. Al beats his sister at which Nav is really upset and wants to talk with Al about it. Also, Al is not the bad guy because he kills Nav, but because he doesn't respect anyone or anything. For understanding more about what kind of personality I'm talking about, refer to this thread.
Al introduces Nav to illegal drugs- however Nav refuses to try them, so sneakily, Al tricks him into trying the drugs (how that happens is your choice- perhaps he could grind something up into his tea, I'm not sure)- Nav has a serious reaction to the drugs and consequently dies. Yeah, it's like your alcohol idea however overdosing on illegal drugs is alot more interesting (in my opinion anyway). If I think of anything else, I'll post, lol.
This has been done in a really good book that I read in the 2nd grade, called On My Honor. Its about two boys who go biking and they tell their father they wont go in the Vermillion River On their Honor. They forget about this and one of them goes in and dies by the water sucking him under and applying pressure so he couldn't move. Really good book. You only have the BASIC plot, Accident death by close friend/relative. Just build suspense and other things to make it better.
I like #4, personally. It's one of those scenes I can just see in my head, you know? But of course, it's your story, so any of them are good.
