At the end of my novel I want to kill my main character, but I'm not sure if i should. I want my ending to not be a happy ending but i dont want it to be an ending that annoys the reader. I have a good reason to get the main character killed, but the story is in her point of view and is in first person. The main characters death has a purpose and it leads well into the next book. But I'm afraid that it wont have the effect that i want since her best friend dies at the same time. Any suggestions?
Music explains life. Music has a purpose. Music speaks the truth. Music never lies. Music means everything to me. Music is my life.
Hmm...I think I'll be facing the same situation in the novel I'm working on currently but that won't have to be faced for quite some time. I'd suggest to kill her off in sucha way that it seems she's actually carrying out a loyalty act or something. You could write her feelings all the way till she's dead and end it with something like "..and then there was darkness" or something. Then, I'd suggest you also write an epilogue where another important character from the novel would be like attending her funeral or sitting around thinking of her. It would be advisable to write this epilogue in third person so as not to confuse the reader. Hope this helps & feel free to ask me anything!
"The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast." ~Oscar Wilde.
I agree with Huff Puff. The best way to do it in my oppinon would be to have an epilogue in the perspective of who will be the main character (or an important character) in the next work. It's going to be a shock for the reader no matter what you do, but the epilogue at least makes it so the book wouldn't just be ending with nothing resolved. It will give them a reason to keep on reading.
If you're stuck between pleasing yourself and pleasing the reader, choose yourself over the reader. What do you want to do? The reader can decide for themselves if they like it or not, but if you write the ending to your satisfaction and it makes sense to your story, then so be it. At that point, you can get feedback.
The MC dying will always have a heavy impact. XD Death scenes in first person is, in my opinion (and I'm not an expert, so take it lightly) are really tough. I like the epilogue/final chapter idea in the next MC's point of view, that way it kind of wraps things up for the reader.
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