Friday, December 3, 2010

Dealing with Death/s in our Manuscripts

 So far I have been extremely lucky that I have not had to kill a  character in my books or stories. Death scenes have me sobbing uncontrollably. I cried buckets when Dumbledore died. I soaked my handkerchief when Dobby died.  Cedric Diggory’s death had my cheeks wet. An honest confession, though I loathed Snape, I cried at his death too. Because, by then Rowling had painted  him as the good guy pretending to be bad. Hence by then  Snape had amassed my sympathy.

 For a series,  killing a character requires a really strong motive. The readers know that the next lot of books will be minus that particular character.  The character’s death should literally turn the story upside down. There has to be a really solid reason for a character dying. As the readers can be really unforgiving if a favourite character dies without a strong reason. Not only will they feel  cheated, they will feel you have done a personal injustice to them. They may even  lose interest in the next lot of books of the series.

 For those Harry Potter lovers, remember that   there was  a strong plot twist when  Cedric Diggory died. Voldemort was gaining his body back.  Sirius Black’s death was crucial to the story as  Harry had to be deprived of the one man he could count as a parent. Sirius was the over indulgent parent/guardian  trying to make up for lost time by  turning a blind eye to Harry’s acts of fool hardiness. He  could be accused of overlooking Harry’s flaws. It was important to isolate Harry and intensify his inner conflict. Dumbledore’s death was a cruel blow. Harry was left without a mentor and guide. But it was  crucial  to make him  self dependant and summon his inner strength to wage that final battle against Voldemort.

 Killing a character and starting the story in flashback is taking the easy way out. I do plan to  kill  few characters who are a part of  my collection of stories which I hope to convert  into  a book. I need to work on a  strong motive to explain their deaths. There  has to be a crucial plot twist when these characters  die. The death of a character has to intensify the inner conflict, it has to be the darkest moment of the book. It has to literally crumble the protagonist’s world, until he or she summons the strength to set it right. It  should propel the protagonist into the next series of actions which will culminate in the climax  and make him win the battle to effectively  justify the death of the character.

 Have any of you created a death scene in your stories and books? Do you plan to kill a favourite character in your  WIP? How will you go about it? Any killing advice you can give us?

P.S. I  did not cry when Voldemort died. Or when Bellatrix died.  

16 comments:

  1. Love the tips. Thanks for helping us effectively create believable death scenes. Love the part that it has to be the darkest moment in the book. Have a lovely weekend, Rachna.

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  2. I am in the planning stages of my second book (thanks to NaNoWriMo!) and working on character arcs for both my Protagonist and Antagonist.

    Illustrating death blows through the HP stories was very insightful. Thanks. (I'll bet your students love you!) I agree that the death of a character must be taken seriously and used primarily to intensify the protagonist's inner conflict. I loved how you put it: 'crumbling his world until he or she summons the strenth to set it right again'.

    Brilliant post. I'll be interested to see other writers' responses.

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  3. Oh dear. I have a death I'm working on for this book and it is the secondary character but he has to die to make it believable. It will probably make me cry as I love him already.

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  4. My current WIP has no death scenes, but my previous novels have death scenes. I'd agonise for days whether or not to kill a particular character because I like them all -- even the bad guys. I'll only do it if it's absolutely necessary.

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  5. I killed off a character in my last novel, and it was so horrible. Blood everywhere. It was awful! But a necessary thing.

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  6. I've killed characters in some of my stories and its always made me emotional. And there was always a serious reason for it every time. I never kill any characters for no reason. It's always a necessary thing that brings the story to a point of no return.

    Jai

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  7. Actually, in the book I'm working on now, there's a death. I don't want to say more than that because I don't want to give anything away. But during a critique session, one group member saw it coming and said "Please don't let .... die!" I was really pleased, because it meant she had gotten involved with that character. But, sigh... the character had to go. It's hard. It's really hard. I didn't want that character to die either!

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  8. Great post, Rachna. There are several characters who die in my last ms. It's a book with warfare at the heart of it. I'm thinking back to those segments now and realizing, each and everyone of them was at a character's turning point. (Don't get me wrong, this was done subconsciously. I don't take any credit!) I am relieved, though. LOL It got a bit tricky at the end as it meant the emotional climax was at a different point than the book's resolution and I think they're expected to come together. I hope that doesn't get me dinged off an agent's or editor's desk, cause it makes sense to me the way it's written. We'll have to see.
    You know, I saw Dumbledore's death coming from a mile away, so I didn't cry. I cried when Sirius died as he was a favorite of mine and I'd expected him to survive for longer. I SOBBED when Dobby died, though. A friend had told me there was an unexpected death and I dreaded it the entire novel (I hate spoilers) and it still choked me up. Maybe because if was such a selfless act.

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  9. I create a lot of characters, but this is so I can kill them of. Eleven in my first book of a trilogy. But there is a difference if someone deserves to die and someone is an innocent victim. I like to give the latter a name and some dignity so they do not seem insignificant to the reader.

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  10. Hi friends...I am enjoying reading everyone's comments on how they handled the death of a character. I know I will be a emotional mess when I decide to finish off a character. I will probably cry for days when I write that death scene.

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  11. In my most recent book, almost everyone dies. I suppose that's the hazard of writing about a post-apocolyptic scenario!

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  12. In my last book, a beloved character dies. I still tear up when I think about it. I suppose that's a good thing!

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  13. Awesome tips! I've just killed a character in a short story for the Serial Killers anthology. It was short, sharp, and brutal. Worryingly, it didn't seem to bother me. Should I be worried?

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  14. Bringing out the inner struggle of characters is the main thing, I think. Otherwise, what would the death scene mean?

    I came over from another blog to meet you. Glad I did!!
    Ann Best, A Long Journey Home

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  15. I write middle grade and even though I know it has been done, I don't plan on ever doing it. But I have a picture book in the works about a mama bird that dies. Intended to help the young deal with their loss.

    In SEVENTY-TWO HOURS Anna, the MC almost dies. I won't tell you more. (You'll have to read it.) :)

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  16. I've heard, many times, that first-time novelists shouldn't "kill off" a character... But I've seen plenty first-time blockbuster novelists who do - and do it well.

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