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thewindbloom

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the-right-writing

How to make a character's death sadder

Don’t have them die of old age after a long, fulfilling life. Many people don’t even think of this as sad (note that this can still work if you have enough of the other factors).

Leave one of their major goals unfinished. The more enthusiastic they are about completing the goal, the sadder.

Give them strong relationships with other characters.

Make them fight against whatever is causing their death. Their ultimate loss is sadder if they struggle.

Kill them in the middle of their character arc.

Don’t describe their funeral in detail. Maybe it’s just me, but I find that long descriptions of funerals kill the sadness.

artistizzyrae

That’s enough Satan’s publisher…

iceb0x

>B)

theirisianprincess

7. If possible, try to kill them off in the middle of the story, so we had time to like them and we will have time to let the loss settle in.

8. Also, place surviving characters in a situation where having the deceased person there would help them get out. You can choose whether you will point this fact out or if you want the audience to make the connection themselves.

thehellspawnhero-deactivated202

peachdoxie

9. Make them die by sacrificing themselves to save someone they love from a danger created by the antagonist.

socialjusticeprincesses

based on a few deaths that made me blub like a baby…

10. have their loved one, broken hearted, tell the team to stop fighting because “its over.”

11. have their pet come looking for them.

12. have their loved one perform a popular song at their funeral so it makes the fans cry whenever it’s played.

13. family witnessing the death and/or blaming themselves.

~ Mulan

asbehsam

so… let’s add some frustration to your dear readers’ sadness, shall we?

14. kill the character in the middle of making a joke, smiling, or expressing/experiencing joy/happiness.

15. make the character’s death slow and painful, but make them unable to call out for help even though they can literally see the other characters nearby.

16. after killing the character, have others think the character had betrayed them so they’d always hate them and remember them as traitors and never say nice things about them… Give your readers no chance to have group-therapy with other characters by making them the only ones who know the truth.

17. right before their death, show a side of them nobody has seen. (someone who is always tough and brave being genuinely scared of dying alone; someone who is always laughing being in tears before dying, etc.)

18. make them the only person who knows a big important secret that would help other characters in the story.

19. have them being lied to before dying. (thinking they’ve been betrayed; thinking they weren’t loved; thinking they’ve lost their loved ones, etc)

20. make the character very enthusiastic/passionate about a certain goal, constantly put stress on their goal, have them die unexpectedly before they can reach their goal.

and the best one…

21. have another beloved character kill them–better be a close friend to your character, one that absolutely nobody suspects, one that everyone can’t help but love, one who is always enthusiastic about things and encourages your character. THEN

reveal the truth only later when it’s too late and the a-hole character has already escaped.

have a cowardly character know the truth and never tell anyone else

have another character find out the truth and have them die before revealing it to others.

have the said character ^ not actually die, but go through something so they’d forget the friend of the deceased character is actually an asshole.

This way only your readers will know the truth, thus the frustration would be… most enjoyable for you.

Satan out.

fangirl--of-everything

24. Show how it effects the other characters. Don’t just gloss over it. Is this the death that pushes them over the edge? Do they blame themselves? Do they scream at everyone and break down, or do they suffer silently?

25. Have their family find out. The mother screams, the dad cries, the brother punches the wall or holds the body sobbing “I was supposed to protect him”, or “come on, you need to wake up”

runningnewtmas

Antra no stop pls

22. Don’t kill their body. Kill their mind.

Leave the physical shell walking and talking, but strip out everything that made that person who they were. Make them forget all about their loved ones, themselves, their experiences and past, their skills, and have them have to start over completely from scratch. Physical and mental disabilities bonus points.

And keep them in a place where their loved ones will be taunted every day by a living ghost.

actualarishok

27. Have them die by accident. Take the character the readers will love most, who has never been mundane throughout all the time the readers knew them. Take that special character, the leader, the fighter, and let them die from something none of your characters could have prevented. A rotten bridge, a runaway carriage or drunk driver. Anything that could happen to anyone. Let it happen to them.

allenthelost

I feel so much pain right now.

kurosmind

This post pleases me

theravenofwynter

Describe their death through a loved one’s eyes during a moment of triumph. Describe their exhilaration about their win, only to crush it later as the character dies

writing-prompt-s

thanks @happydooky for suggesting posts so often!

mythcreantsblog

28. Make the death pointless. Maybe they died trying to save their child from the antagonist, but it turns out the antagonist never had the child, they were just at a friend’s house and forget to leave a message.

humunanunga

29. Make the death a character whom someone else depended on to keep themself functional. Make the death happen to a character who knew what to do to keep their friend or family from spiraling downward. Don’t necessarily kill this character off, let them slowly get back onto their own feet later, but first let the surviving character get knocked down. Let them get lost without their supportive character.

30. Make it happen after an argument. Make them die before they had a chance to make amends. Cripple the surviving character with guilt over what turned out to be their last words to each other, now to be left unresolved forever.

31. Give the other characters survivor’s guilt.

32. Make a surviving character have to take over the dead character’s responsibilities. Make them feel overshadowed, struggling to live up to the idolized memory of the dead character. Let them try to emulate the dead character in the role they inherited, then struggle with the fact that they’re not that dead character.

ohmisterpitiful

This is so useful seeing as I kill off all my characters

the-wayward-prydonian

@carverly

Just reading some of these made me hurt, so I feel like this would be useful to you

lemon-embalmer

“So I have this character–“ “What’s their name?”

ENTER HOURS OF ANGUISH AND TORMENT

If you’re like me, the hardest part of writing characters is their names. I can have a character fleshed out and occupying a significant place in the plot, I can be tens of thousands of words into their story, and instead of a name I’m still writing an epithet in square brackets because wtf what do I call them what is their naaaaaaame

It’s a problem for me. So I came up with a few ways of solving it.

1. I have the naming convention, but nothing on this particular name. Are you coding the character as a member an irl culture? Or coding a fictional culture as an irl culture? Names are a nice way of emphasising that. (Just don’t make that the only way of that coding.) Here are my fave websites with lists of names and their etymology (which I suggest you cross-reference anyway if you care about it):

Behind the Name - indexed by culture, starting letter, or the masculine / feminine / unisex breakdown.

20000 Names - it’s not an exaggeration. THERE ARE SO MANY. Then there’s the A-Z index of all names, from all categories, that they have. And then there’s the breakdown into special categories. Names meaning ‘wolf’? They got your back. Names meaning ‘star’? They have that. This is generally my first resource.

Fantasy Name Generators - lots of generators. LOTS OF THEM. It’s a good starting point if you care jack shit about etymology and just want the name to sound right.

Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources - exactly what it says, and here for all your medieval fantasy or time travel from/to the Middle Ages needs.

Onomastikon - lists of names from historical sources. I mostly come there for ancient world names. Not just for Antiquity and time travel needs, but also for cultures with naming themes borrowed from ancient cultures. For example, the Imperials from The Elder Scrolls and the turians from Mass Effect have a more or less Ancient Roman naming theme, while the sylvari from Guild Wars 2 are a mix of Irish, Scottish, and Welsh names.

A small note here re: the Mass Effect universe. Specifically, asari names. PLEASE LET THE GREEK PANTHEON REST. PLEASE. Take a look at Hindi, Egyptian, or Persian names instead. Holy fuck I beg you. I cannot take reading another fic with asari named after the Muses or nymphs.

Also, if you’re doing Japanese or Japanese-coded names, cross-reference the kanji. Consult a dictionary. Hell, consult the Wiktionary, just paste the kanji into the search bar and hit enter.

2. There is literally nothing in my head. So randomize. And here are the tools.

Roll d3 for which row you’re looking at. Roll d10 for which letter in that row you’re picking. Congratulations, you have the starting letter of the name. Now hit one of the websites above and keep scrolling until something sounds right.

3. I want to make the name up, or mix things up with an existing name. There’s an old friend who can help you there.

Scrabble tiles.

Mixing up an existing name? Arrange the tiles into it, then switch them around, add new ones, you’re gonna like the result eventually.

Making the name from scratch? Decide on how hard or soft you want it to sound. Decide on the number of syllables. Pick the vovels, add consonants and switch them around until you’re satisfied. Voila.

But please put the result through your search engine. Chances are, your brand new name is already a word in a language or two. Possibly a swearword.

4. Reader, why are your Scrabbles so fucked up?

I’m using Polish Scrabbles, yo.

renaissanceenby

y’all, behind the name IS MY SHIT. if you’ve been following me for a while, you know i have a very ethnic last name so i love giving my characters very ethnic last names as well. when i’m writing, i most likely have at least one tab with behind the name pulled up on it.

one caveat is the main index page has a eurocentric point of view. it has about 40 different european cultures represented, but few non-european and zero latinx cultures represented. africa is grouped under one tab. immediately, this pissed me off because, hello, i’m a millenial queer feminist author and i want to be able to name a diverse cast with one, easy to use website!

they do have south american last names, mexican last names, african last names separated by region, etc. the trick is to scroll down to the advanced search, click the “usage” box, and scroll through all of the cultures they offer.

hilarioushumorfromouterspace

awakeonprospit-deactivated20170

is this tf2

ubercharge

yes

lepidracoptera

I made a buttload of Coli image banners/dividers, same dimensions as @stormlore‘s here, because I liked theirs a lot and I’m using them for my bios but I need like a bazillion more. These are my favorite but check the link below for MOAR. Includes a recolor of the Woodland Path (last one) to look more autumn-y because we have no autumn themed venue and I needed it. Holler at me if you want the full size of orange-y over-saturated image.

Find the rest of them here! Currently there’s… I think 58. I went a bit overboard.

EDIT: updated gallery link because I accidentally broke the previous one.

mithtransdir-deactivated2016110

6) Tolkien’s hero was average, and needed help, and failed. This is the place where most fantasy authors, who love to simultaneously call themselves Tolkien’s heirs and blame him for a lot of what’s wrong with modern fantasy, err the worst. It’s hard to look at Frodo and see him as someone extra-special. The hints in the books that a higher power did choose him are so quiet as to be unnoticeable. And he wouldn’t have made it as far as he did without his companions. And he doesn’t keep from falling into temptation. A lot of modern fantasy heroes are completely opposite from this. They start out extraordinary, and they stay that way. Other characters are there to train them, or be shallow antagonists and love interests and worshippers, not actually help them. And they don’t fail. (Damn it, I want to see more corrupted fantasy heroes.) It’s not fair to blame Tolkien for the disease that fantasy writers have inflicted on themselves. […] Fantasy could use more ordinary people who are afraid and don’t know what the hell they’re doing, but volunteer for the Quest anyway. It’s misinterpretation of Tolkien that’s the problem, not Tolkien himself.

“Tolkien Cliches,” Limyaael

(via mithtransdir)

The whole point of The Lord Of The Rings… like, the WHOLE POINT… is that it is ultimately the hobbits who save the world. The small, vulnerable, ordinary people who aren’t great warriors or heroes.

Specifically, Sam. Sam saves the world. All of it. The ultimate success of the great quest is 100% due to a fat little gardener who likes to cook and never wanted to go on an adventure but who did it because he wasn’t going to let his beloved Frodo go off alone. Frodo is the only one truly able to handle the ring long enough to get it into Mordor - and it nearly kills him and permanently emotionally damages him - but Sam is the one who takes care of Frodo that whole time. Who makes him eat. Who finds him water. Who watches over him while he sleeps.

Sam is the one who fights off Shelob.

Sam is the one who takes the Ring when he thinks Frodo is dead.

Sam is the one who strolls into Orc Central and saves Frodo by sheer determination and killing any orc who crosses him. (SAM THE GARDENER GOES AND KILLS AN ACTUAL ORC TO GET FRODO SOME CLOTHES LET’S JUST THINK ABOUT THAT). And then Sam just takes off the Ring and gives it back which is supposed to be freaking impossible and he barely even hesitates.

Sam literally carries Frodo on the last leg of the journey. On his back. He’s half-starved, dying slowly of dehydration, but he carries Frodo up the goddamn mountain and Gollum may get credit for accidentally destroying the ring but Sam was the one who got them all there.

Sam saved the world.

And let’s not forget Pippin and Merry, who get damselled out of the story (the orcs have carried them off! We must make a Heroic Run To Save Them!) and then rescue themselves, recruit the Terrifying Ancient Powers through being genuinely nice and sincere, and overthrow Saruman before the ‘real’ heroes even get there.

Let’s not forget Pippin single-handedly saving what’s left of Gondor - and Faramir - by understanding that there is a time for obeying orders and a time for realizing that the boss is bugfuck nuts and we need to get help right now.

Let’s not forget Merry sticking his sword into the terrifying, profoundly evil horror that has chased him all over his world because his friend is fighting it and he’s gonna help, dammit and that’s how the most powerful Ringwraith goes down to a suicidally depressed woman and a scared little hobbit.

Everything the others do, the kings and princes and great heroes and all? They buy time. They distract the bad guys. They keep the armies occupied. That is what kings and great leaders are for - they do the big picture stuff.

But it is ultimately the hobbits who bring down every villain. Every one. And I believe that that is 100% on purpose. Tolkien was a soldier in WWI. His son fought in WWII. (And a lot of The Lord Of The Rings was written in letters to him while he did it.)

And hey, look, The Lord Of The Rings is about ordinary people - farmers, scholars, and so on - who get pulled into a war not of their making but who have to fight not only because their own home is in danger but so is everyone’s. And they’re small and scared but they do the best they can for as long as they can and that is what actually saves the world. Not great heroes and pre-destined kings. Ordinary people, doing extraordinary things because they want the world to be safe for ordinary people, the ones they know and the ones they don’t.

Ordinary people matter. They can save the world without being great heroes or kings or whatever. And that is really important and I get so upset when people miss that because Aragorn and Legolas and Gimli and Gandalf and all the others are great characters and all but they are ultimately a hobbit delivery system.

It is ordinary people doing their best who really change the world, and continue doing so after the war is over because they have to go home and rebuild and they do.

If nothing else, I have to reblog this for the phrase “hobbit delivery system.” So accurate it hurts.

(via elenilote)

What I love too is how even the foretold king and the assorted great heroes themselves all come to recognize that their main (and by the end, only) role is to distract Sauron. To the point that by the end they’re all gathered up before the black gates of Mordor in order to keep his attention focused on them, with only the hope - not the certainty - that they can buy Frodo whatever remaining time he needs, if he’s even still alive.

One thing the movies left out but has always been such a key part of the books for me was how when the hobbits returned home, they found that home had been changed too. The war touched everywhere. Even with all they did in far-off lands to protect the Shire, the Shire had still been damaged, both property and lives destroyed, and it wasn’t an easy or simplistically happy homecoming. They had to fight yet another battle (granted a much smaller one) to save their neighbours, and then spent years in rebuilding.

(via garrusscars)

In many ways, the entire POINT is that homecoming. A quest, an adventure, is defined by the return home, and the realization that not only have YOU changed, so has your home.

(via mymyriadmusings)

“My friends, you bow to no one.”

(via sorrelchestnut)

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