Young Writers Society

Hey everyone!

This may seem a little cynical, but in my Reg Carter fictional spy series, I need to kill off Carter - who is apparently the favourite amongst readers. However my plot development needs him to die; so Reg can take the lead as the hero.

It's almost like when Qui Gon Jin dies on Star Wars Episode 1 (First example that came to mind). I want to kill him off, but there's a problem.

- It needs to be sad
- It needs to have impact wrench the heart out of the reader
- It needs to be realistic

It's set in World War II and at this current point he's just rescued Reg from a high security prison. They're now in the countryside of Belgium with Roger & Marie; Reg's mother and father.

He needs to be killed.

Any plot twists, etc are welcome!

If more reference helps here's the chapters:
pro.php?u=15261&i=442
(Click on the "RC Deep Cover" portfolio)

cheers guys
Ben.

What?! You're killing Carter. But ... pfft. *sad panda face*

Anyway, I haven't had much experience in the whole killing characters scenario, but I do have one suggestion. I would try to not make it a big, grand death. Death in real life wouldn't be like that. To make it as real as possible, you want to keep it as down to earth as possible. It doesn't matter if it's sudden or slow, but the more dramatic you make it the less realistic it is. And, for me, I find the simple deaths the saddest.

~Amy

Thanks Amy

And Yes, I am. Sorry XD. Plot development's superior to everybody's love for Carter.
Hehe.
Ben

Your first two points are covered. If he's a much-loved character, then it'll be sad/heart-wrenching be default, if done in a realistic way. My best advice is to make it short and sudden. Tell the reader he died, instead of showing his last moments. Our legs will be jerked out from under us and we'll be more impacted. My favourite line when it comes to a death scene is,

"By dawn I was his widow."

That line was in its own paragraph, after a "romantic" scene (in quotes because it never really did include the words "I love you" but was romantic in its own way). There'd been a slow buildup of that character dying, and at the end you thought he was going to be okay. Then that line hits and my breath caught in my throat. The dead character had been much loved by the MC and those around him, and his fatal wound was given in a dirty way to the MC. And the little glimmer of hope given before is really enough to send you crashing back to earth. There were some paragraphs after, to let the feeling of sadness sink in, but the death was just as sudden to us as it was to the MC. I've seen another work that held a death scene I really liked (that sounds morbid). The paragraph was:

I remember that, when I was small, I found a baby robin beneath a tree. It had fallen from its nest, though where that nest was we could not see. I immediately set out to save it. My parents set up a little box with a towel in it and I put the bird inside. He chirped and I would feed him. He did not grow hungry and was never neglected. A week later he was dead. I buried him beneath the tree where I had found him.

Again, there's that glimmer of hope the character set to die will make it, but in the end the life still finishes. I think that's the best way to hit readers in the chest: a sudden wound, hope that the character will make it, death.

Hope this helps!

~Rosey

The best I can give you is to not intend to make the scene sad. If you do, it'll be obvious and feel fake - you need to make the situation realistic for a very real character. Then it will come naturally. But if I don't like the character in anyway then I'll just be cheering that he or she is dead.

And that's not a great thing. =P

All the advice you have here is great. ^^

I've killed off a few characters and my two biggest suggestions are to think about the stuff leading up to it and stuff coming after it. The death scene is important, but what happens around it gives it the emphasis and emotion it needs. The stuff before it? Foreshadowing is always nice, though not necessary. Dropping hints is always fun, and, depending on exactly how it fits in the story, building up to it might heighten that emotional level. Make sure the character is developed (sounds like he is, but always something to keep in mind ^^).

Stuff after it? Give your characters some time to grieve. No need to write a slew of mourning rants, but, if possible, let your characters slow down and properly deal with the death. The worst death scenes are death scenes followed by a paragraph of mourning after which the rest of the cast forgets all about the dead character. So, don't be in a rush to get them back on their feet again. Let them deal with what happens, but keep them in the framework of the plot. And, if the death does have a profound effect on your characters, don't be afraid to let that interweave with their future actions and thoughts. As always, thoroughly integrated, powerful plot points are better than dangling punches to the reader's emotions.

So yeah, the stuff around it is important. ^^ Don't know if that's the advice you were looking for, but I hope that helped! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

This may seem a little cynical, but in my Reg Carter fictional spy series, I need to kill off Carter - who is apparently the favourite amongst readers. However my plot development needs him to die; so Reg can take the lead as the hero.

I haven't read your work so I can't really make comparisons, but this does sound a little like Kamina's death in the anime Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (this is not a spoiler, since he dies in episode 8 of 27), especially when it comes to the character's death impacting the main character to become a hero. So for some inspiration you might want to check that out. Not to mention it's a good story.

Actually, TTGL is pretty good in showing how the character continues to impact others after his death. It's built into the narrative in a beautiful way; not so much that the MC seems obsessive, but enough to know that Kamina has left a lasting impression on him and the other characters. I think that this, what happens after the death, is almost more important than the death scene itself. Showing the charater's legacy, in essence. Overplaying it will make your story too melodramatic, but if you don't explore it at all your characters will seem rather sociopathic. But work it in in subtle ways, like having your MC keep around a memento of the dead character and occasionally reference it, something like that.

Dramatic speeches at death = no no, but I do prefer it when the dying character gets to at least say something, even if it's as short and simple as the MC's name (though that kind of has romantic connotations...)

Give him a realistic death. After all, he's in WW2... he can be easily killed in a great many of ways. Make it short and sweet... the shortness and realism of it will tear out their hearts.

Thankyou everyone!

Wonderful advice!
I'll be posting Chapter 4 by next week if any of you are interested.

Cheers again,
Ben.