It depends. Killing off a character wouldn't automatically make me do either, it would depend more on the story as a whole.
Agreeing with the others depends on the story and if there is a reason. My new detective story I need to kill of a minor character in the first chapter or there would be no murder
Ditto! If it makes the story more intriguing / exciting, it's a good thing. If it doesn't, and I don't see the point, then I might be turned off --especially if I liked the character.
If it's a horror, like a teen slasher, then it would really mean nothing because I'm probably only watching it to see the inventive ways these guys get killed. Not that I make a habit out of this. You have to find some amusement in everything. If it's a thriller or drama then killing a few main characters could really enhance my interest, especially if I developed an emotional connection with them. It also makes the reader expect the worst, that anything can happen. Some stories become quite boring when the characters are thrown into one perilous situation after the other but always come out unscathed. You know that nobody ever dies so the danger that they're in has little impact. Now it's more like let's see how they all figure their way out of this one. Not exactly edge of your seat stuff. Kill a character off, and you're telling the reader that you can, so don't get too comfortable, because it can happen again to another character. It heightens the thrill factor. That's why a show like 24, and the song of ice and fire books have such a huge appeal. Well part of the reason anyway. You know the author/ scriptwriter has no qualms about axing a character. Nobody is safe. That's what keeps me hooked.
Hmm good point well let's say you liked this character that's being killed but it's for the best? What would you do then?
It depends (obviously), but think it can be a very effective technique for generating shock and interest if A. The characters that are left are just as interesting as the one you killed. B. The death is meaningful and changes the outcome of the story.
I hated my favorite author when she killed a secondary character, that I thought was turning into a main character. But I read on. In the grand scheme of things, she had to die. The quest had to change from kids out looking for someone to help them into the hero's of the story, looking to make her death mean something. It depends on the story. Kill a character off just for shock value or just because you can, might turn the reader off. But if it is really apart of the story, then it must happen.
Yup, I agree. Doing(or not doing) either solely for the sake of keeping people interested likely will have the opposite effect.
For me, it would depend on the story line as a whole. Usually though, I find my self doing A when liking a story because of the fact that IMO main characters make the story.
Considering the character would either have a good or bad connection to the MC, there would be some emotion following, whether success or sadness, which, to me, evokes an interest to see what else happens later and how the MC reacts to the situation.
Hi, When I was about twelve or so I read Shipwrecked by Charles Logan. As I got closer and closer to the end I could see the number of pages getting fewer and fewer and was starting to panic, wondering how he was going to get off the planet. He didn't. The least line was - "And there on that rock, by the edge of the sea, he died." Boy was I annoyed by that. I felt completely betrayed by the author. And yet many years later I still remember that line and that book. Cheers.
