Killing Your Characters

Because I seem to be on a dark streak here, what with writing my new dark fantasy series, today we’re going to talk about something both terrifying and exciting that many writers choose to add to their plotlines. Let me give you a hint: It’s not so much adding as it is taking away. Can you guess what it is? I’ll give you another hint. If someone were to browse my Google Search history, they would probably be very concerned and may even alert the authorities. That probably just gave it away, but if you guessed that today we’ll be talking about how to kill off characters in your book, you guessed correctly! If you'd rather watch the video on this topic, feel free to click play below. Otherwise, read on!


First off, I will say that I love killing characters. I know that’s a horrible thing to “love” to do and it probably makes me a terrible person, but planning a character’s death is truly exhilirating. As a writer, it pulls things out of you that you didn’t even know were there and really forces you to connect with that character on a completely different level. I think when writers make a really difficult decision, like to kill off a character who isn't the villain, they learn a lot about themselves as writers and in turn, it essentially hones their story-telling capabilities.
So, there are a few things to consider beforehand:
1.       What kind of character are you killing?2.       How will they die?3.       How will that character’s death affect the protagonist as well as the other characters in the book?4.       Is it truly necessary for the character in question to die?
Let’s start with the first question:  What kind of character are you killing? Knowing the kind of character you’re about to kill is incredibly important. If it’s the antagonist, then you may have it a little easier than someone wanting to kill off the protagonist or the protagonist’s sidekick, usually it’s another good guy. Readers tend to root for the protagonist to take down the antagonist in some way, and a lot of the time that means killing the antagonist. But ending your book with the hero killing the villain can be pretty anticlimactic . . . and expected, which may cause it to feel like a cliché ending. That’s usually when writers switch focus and consider killing off a good guy. Most likely not the protagonist (although there are some books where this happens), but maybe their sidekick, love interest, or close friend. Before you kill that good guy off, think about how important this character is and what the ramifications of their death will be.  To write the scene properly, you must understand that character inside and out. You must understand why this character has to die. Know why it has to be this particular character and not another.
Let’s move onto the second question: How will they die? Knowing whether the death will be clean or messy, what kind of weapon or force kills the character, and who/what is doing the killing are all really important elements of writing your character’s death scene. When I say clean versus messy deaths, I mean are they ones you’re going to go into great gory graphic detail about, or will you make it more of a clean death, maybe a swift slice to the neck or a gunshot to the head.  The messier the death scene, the more you’ll have to do your research on the effects of someone after they’ve been shot in the head or sliced in the neck, how quickly they’ll bleed out, if there’s a possible chance of them recovering, etc. If you are in a medieval setting, then swords, blades, and arrows are likely weapons. These are also used in fantasy settings, but you can also add in magical elements and “forces beyond the realm”. If you’re writing in modern times, then a gun or knife is probably your weapon of choice. Who or what is doing the killing is also an important thing to consider, especially if one of your good guys is killing another one of your good guys. There’s a delicate balance writers need to strive for when making a good guy kill another good guy. You have to make the readers feel more connected to the one who’s doing the killing, otherwise you’ll have a bunch of crying, hysterical readers. HOW COULD SHE DO THAT? HOW COULD SHE KILL HIM? WHAT WAS THE AUTHOR THINKING?!
Moving onto question number three: How will that character’s death affect the protagonist as well as the other characters in the book? So to answer this, let’s think about one of two scenarios. Either someone ELSE will do the killing and your protagonist and others will mourn and react to the death; OR your protagonist will do the killing and the rest of the characters will turn their reaction onto the protagonist. Depending on the relationship between the protagonist and the newly deceased, the death will obviously hit them in different ways. Your protagonist might close up and retreat into their shell, or they may explode with fury and demand retribution. They might be appalled at what they’ve done and absolutely disgusted with themselves, or they might discover a new kind of twisted thrill and sudden urge to kill in order to feel that way again. If you want to strike your reader with emotions, you must first give them a reason to care about the character you are killing. You must make them care, otherwise that character’s death will add nothing to the story. It’ll be a waste of words and a waste of time.
And question number four: Is it truly necessary for the character in question to die? This is difficult to answer, but if you’re still struggling even after answering the previous three questions, it might be a good idea to run through this checklist. I found a great checklist on Helping Writers Become Authors by K.M. Weiland:


So there you have it, a quick guide to deciding whether or not to kill off your characters. I hope you found this post helpful!
Don't forget to check out my debut novel, THE ALPHA DRIVE, as well as the sequel, THE ORDER OF OMEGA!


Until next time,


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