Killing off characters: What does it accomplish?

QFT. Well said

 

Do you ever kill off any of your characters to provoke emotion in the readers, and do you think it was worth it?

I haven?t done it solely for emotional purposes, but rather I?ve done it to set the situation. One character in my novel Shadows of the Jedi: The Legend of Ussej Padric Bac was killed off during a space battle at Coruscant. While the character wasn?t a major character, he did appear as if he could have become one. I do think it was worth it, as it showed the hopelessness of the situation and it showed that the Jedi Knights are not super-power-uber God-like beings like so many people try to make them out to be - they bleed, they fall, they die.

Were the reader reactions what you expected?

Yes, it was. I expected it would be surprising, as the character appeared to be growing into someone who could have been a more major character. I purposely designed his death in that way. On another interesting note, the character was role-played on my role-playing forum and I was basically given free reign by the creators of all of the role-playing characters that appear in my novel. The person who came up with the character in question has not read it yet, so it?ll be interesting to see the reaction to that.

Have you ever regretted doing it?

No, because I only kill of characters when it allows the other characters and the plot to move forward. Will I miss them? Yes, of course I will, but I won?t regret doing it.

Is it possible to have a dramatic or dark story without resorting to killing?

Absolutely. Just look at The Empire Strikes Back. No major characters in that movie died, and it?s the darkest movie of the classic trilogy.

Have you ever run out of ideas for a character and resorted to killing them off?

Never. That?s a horrible reason to kill off a character.

 

Do you ever kill off any of your characters to provoke emotion in the readers, and do you think it was worth it?

no. if you want emotion angst is much better. killing characters should only be done if it is essential to the plot, not for dramatic emphasis.

Were the reader reactions what you expected?

didn't do it so dont know

Have you ever regretted doing it?

No, because I only kill of characters when it allows the other characters and the plot to move forward. Will I miss them? Yes, of course I will, but I won?t regret doing it.

Is it possible to have a dramatic or dark story without resorting to killing?

hell yes

Have you ever run out of ideas for a character and resorted to killing them off?

no. if im out of ideas for them i stop writing about them simple. killing for boredoms sake is wrong...weird too.

 

Did I dream this? I remember hearing that Jacen was originally supposed to die in the NJO, but Lucas didn't want to have two Anakins running around when ROTS was released, so Anakin the Younger was killed off instead. The NJO authors had reasons aplenty to kill off Anakin, but how many were "real" and how many were "convenient"? Assuming that any of this is true, of course.

 

I don't know about Jacen originally being slated for the axe, but I do remember TOS stating that Lucas had made the decision for the elimination of Anakin Solo to avoid confusion with younger, newer fans to the franchise. IIRC the decision was mae after the first few books had already been written (and Vector Prime had been already released).

 

Do you ever kill off any of your characters to provoke emotion in the readers, and do you think it was worth it?
I've done this, and I've regretted it. Getting the 'NOOOOOO!!!11!!' response was fun - I felt like people actually cared - but ultimately it was cliche and pointless. If I could go back and write that story again, I wouldn't have killed off that character.

I try to make sure I have a reason for everything I do in a fic, now. If I'm going to kill someone, I can tell give a detailed explanation that's more than "well, it's a war."

Have you ever regretted doing it?
When I've done it without a real reason, yeah. A lot. There have been times I've killed off characters because it was crucial to the story, and those times I haven't regretted. But when I did it just for a reader reaction...it was definately a mistake.

Even bigger mistake I've made? Killing off a character and intending it not to be a real death. Not only was it the most overused plot line in SW fic, it's also really hard to do if you have a ton of witnesses to the death or if the death is done in a way that no one could have survived. I learned the hard way to always think things through before starting them.

Is it possible to have a dramatic or dark story without resorting to killing?
Oh, definately. There is so much drama among people during war that doesn't involve killing a character off in the story. I've read some amazing stuff that was dark and pulled out those emotions but didn't kill anyone.

One of the best angsty stories I've read is CarrKicksDoor's "Unfit for a Normal Life" in which the main character is in the middle of a divorce while on a mission. No one dies, but my heart just breaks every time I read it.

Have you ever run out of ideas for a character and resorted to killing them off?
Actually, no. I tend to let someone fade into the background if I don't have any more ideas for them. I am, however, guilty of 'red-shirting' (creating characters just to kill them off).

What, in your mind, are the right and wrong reasons for eliminating a character?
I think there are good reasons - it's an important plot point, it's a reminder that this is a war and people die in wars, etc. But even with those, I think you have to do it right.

Probably the best 'major character' death I've read is Ton's in the X-wing series. It was a shock (usually if a character survives the first book in the X-wing series and still has major page time, they're safe), but it served a dual purpose of helping Face move beyond all the things he was and it reminded us that people on the front lines in war can and do die. Added bonus - it wasn't cliche and it didn't feel like it came out of a really poorly written fanfic.

The wrong reasons - just to get a 'nooo!' response, just to be told you're 'evil,' or just killing 'for the heck of it.'

Although I'm just as guilty as anyone else of doing it for the wrong reasons.

~Inyri