Fictional Death

As a world creator who makes the attempt to capture other people’s imagination and help them see their own reality in a clearer, kinder, and more thoughtful way I get caught by writer’s advice. The most recent is the need for death, for death rituals to develop and bind the characters tighter. But the truth is, I do not want to kill off one or a pair of my characters.

I have had tragedy and loss in my stories. So far we have avoided the loss of one of the central characters, aside from Golly. As the stories continue there is a lot of expansion of the territory, new characters and new circumstances. The cast of characters grows, but I love them all. I do not want to kill a youngster or youth. Eliminating one of the mates kills both of them, and leaves a giant hole in everyone’s heart.

No matter the circumstances, killing off one of my creations is terrible. I cry at the computer, I cry reading the draft, I cry when I am editing. I hope to avoid killing off one of them in the future, but if death moves the story, I can always develop a side character and plot their demise. The trick is to not make them too likable, or maybe they should be a bright flash in the lives of the others.

Some writers kill off central characters regularly. I think that would suck all the joy out of the stories. You keep reading and I’ll keep writing to a happy place.