At some point in our writing careers we will all (probably) have the dubious pleasure of killing off a character. Perhaps this character is a villain, perhaps they are the hero. Regardless, this scene can be quite difficult to write. Especially if you want to make it poignant.
When/why should we kill characters
I want to start off by looking at how other authors have killed off their characters and more importantly why they killed their characters. J.K Rowling has killed off numerous characters, all done for different reasons. First of all the first significant death for the reader is that of Cedrics. Cedric is killed for shock value and to show the brutality of Voldemort and it also starts the transgression of the stories from innocent to dark and scary. Cedric’s death is important, it gives Harry and several other characters a reason to keep fighting. It also shows the reader that Voldemort will kill anyone that gets in the way. Cedric is killed quickly and Harry doesn’t really get time to react before he is attacked by Pettigrew and Voldemort.
Dumbledore was killed because Rowling wanted to cut Harry off from his last parental figure, to make him independent for the last book (more or less). Not only that but the fall of Dumbledore is the catalyst to the falling of the ministry and the falling of the Wizarding World to Lord Voldemort. Dumbledore’s death destroys the last protection Hogwarts and the wizarding world has against Voldemort. Unlike Cedric’s Harry has time to process this death, he understands what is about to happen and his emotions are clear to the reader. This scene is meant to make the reader to cry (I bawled buckets), it is Dumbledore’s clear acceptance of death that tears the reader apart, that and Harry’s helplessness in the situation.
Suzanne Collins also kills a few characters off in the Hunger Game series. Some deaths have no effect on the reader as the reader doesn’t care for them, and their death helps Katniss. One death however is intensely emotional: Rue’s Death. Rue is killed I feel to show the ruthlessness of the games, despite the age of the character. It also develops the plot and Katniss as she then wants to win more than ever. What makes it so sad? Everything. Rue is innocent, sweet and she didn’t deserve this ending. Katniss is helpless and no matter what she does Rue will die. But their conversation and the lullaby breaks the heart of the reader. To me though it was the aftermath that made it such a good scene. It was Katniss surrounding her body in followers, respecting her and making her death matter.
I would sit down and think about what you want this death to achieve, both for your plot and for the emotions of your reader. Not all death scenes are sad, it depends on the character, the reason and how. If this character is hated then you want people to be either happy or to feel sympathy for this hated character.
Peter Pettigrew, we all hated him. But when he died J.K made you pity him, in his last moments he helped Harry which cost him his life. It gave him redemption in his last moments and caused us to pity him.
Whereas Bellatrix’s death is fantastic, we all probably love it. Why? Because she’s horrid, she tries to kill Ginny and Molly, she taunts them. She is the strongest of Voldemorts allies and she is killed by a witch that you never think is that powerful until she whips Bellatrix’s ass. Bellatrix never stops being a cow, even in her last moments. And as the reader we want her to die, we want Molly to win.
But what if you want to make your reader cry, without being mega icky. Well I would read books with major character death. Look at how they do it and try to warp their way to fit you, your style and your book. I think there is a few ways you can go about starting the water works, this is just from my own observation.
The characters knowing they are going to die and having time to think about it. This is when the character contemplates death and either accepts it or fights against it and the reader is left with the feeling that it just isn’t fair. You could do this by the character talking about their upcoming death or through their inner thoughts and fears. Some examples: Hazel Grace, Augustus Waters and Harry Potter
Surprise death. I suppose this is for shock value, but when you think of life you don’t expect people to die and I suppose that is the same for books. These deaths are never normally expected, either because the character is powerful or because you weren’t aware as the reader of the danger. Examples include: Prim, Dumbledore, Sirius, Augustus (to an extent).
When readers don’t ‘see’ the death but only the reactions of other people. This ties in with surprise death but I think it is slightly different as since the character doesn’t have chance to have lasts words and instead just die.
So death needs a reason and if they are cared about by other characters or readers it will affect the reader and cause the waterworks. A characters reaction to death is for most people the cause of tears. Think of your favourite movie or book or tv show and think of when you cried during these. Why did you cry at that scene?
I think empathy for characters plays a large role in causing tears. If your reader can’t empathise with this character they are less likely to be upset. One example that springs to mind is Marley and Me, this films ending was so sad because you could understand the characters pains and feelings for the dog- you could empathise with their pain and their loss. This is something that you need to replicate with your own characters.
So how can you create empathy?
The character is nice, good, likeable. They’ve done no wrong and it’s unfair.
The relationship is understandable and therefore another characters reaction to their friend/brothers/mothers death is relatable to the reader. They understand the pain.
The reader feels sorry for the character. I know it’s not a book but Supernatural springs to mind. I think when watching that show you can’t help but feel sorry for the characters because they’ve had a bad childhood and a crappy life and you just want them to be happy and they don’t get that chance.
But an important thing to remember is that not all deaths need to be important, not all deaths mean something to the main characters. Not only that but not all deaths need to make the reader emotional and not all deaths can regardless of how you write it.
How to make your readers cry
How to write a good death scene
Writing realistic death scenes
How to write a death scene
I don’t think this was what many of you were expecting, instead of telling you how to do it I just dissected how others have done it. I just like categorising things. Hope you found this useful!
blakekathryn
titsay
discoholicmusic
dededos
ellievsbear
kaledo-art
vaporwave
