I'll admit it, this might turn out very similar to my post on The Stages of Torturing a Character, which you can read
here, but I wanna do this anyway. So hold onto your sides, because you won't be splitting them. jk.
1. Shock.
What are you? What have you become? You would never-
could never kill such an excellent character as this one! Could you?
2. Worry for the character.
Oh no, the poor character doesn't even know what's going to happen to them!
3. Worry for what this will do to the other characters.
What about their brother? What about their best friend? What about- *gasp* their
love interest??? However, inwardly, you're kind of excited to see how all of them will react to this travesty.
4. Remorse.
The character must be mourned. Prepare in advance with large amounts of chocolate, tissues, etc, packed inside a handy box in your desk. Perhaps consider including your pet as well, although bear in mind that pets will only stand being inside a box for so long.
5. Regret.
(jack skellington what have I done gif)
Noooooooo you miss the character so much. They would have done wonders for this scene! But they're
dead. You
killed them. And they're not coming back. *stares at reflection in a goldfish pond that somehow ended up in your backyard* You're a monster. You cannot be saved from this.
6. Trying to figure out how to save them.
Surely there's some way you could save them! This is where you frantically search through your outline for a solution to your problem, only to ultimately discover that overcoming this grief is better for everyone's character arcs. Well, drat.
7. Finally coming to terms with it.
It's okay. You're the writer, this was your decision, the story needed it, and it's done now.
8. Wishing you hadn't.
There's nothing you could have done to save them!
Well. . . Then there's nothing to be done now!
Well. . . Okay, let's just face it, the character had to die.
9. Finally coming to terms with it again.
It's fine. It's all fine. You're secure with you're decision.
10. Still wishing you could edit it out.
What have you
done?!?!?!
11. And so on!
This cycle will go on and on until you either come to terms with it completely, forget you killed that character, or turn into a Vulcan. Commence playing of 'You'll Be In My Heart', complete with dramatic hand motions and pretending you're in a music video as you stare off into the distance. This is your life now. Accept it.
Hopefully you found this funny. Be sure to tune in on Thursday for the next post, which is about the scarier stuff I write! See you then!
Have you ever killed a character? How do you deal with sucky things in writing? Let me know in the comments, and I'll be sure to reply!
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I don't know if I've ever managed to keep a character dead! The older I get the more reluctant I am to just slay my babies. *sobs and hugs them all closely*
ReplyDeleteNo lie in my WIP there's a character that was supposed to be dead, but it turns out she's not dead by the end of the book. I regret nothing!
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