How to write a story that doesn't suck

Kill Your Characters

This is a fun topic to cover right after I talked about introducing a character.  

Here's my first tip: don't kill a character right after you introduce them. Because no one cares. (Unless you can make it meaningful. Ex: MC has worked their whole life to find this character and minutes after they find them, the character gets killed.)

First of all, if it's an important character who died, make it sad. Make it especially sad. Stab your reader in the feelings. But don't wreck it. Here's how!

1. If you want it to be sad, don't let them die of old age. Just don't. That one is sort of a no brainer.

2. Make them die before completing their goal. This goal that they reach so hard for, they're almost there, it's everything they've been working for, but the second they almost reach it they die. Because that... is kinda sucky.

3. The stronger their relationship with other characters are, the better.

4. Don't be afraid to murder your MC. It's even worse if they haven't reached the end of the story. It's the middle of the story, they die, and now your other characters don't know what to do. That will seriously shock a reader. Like, hello! Plot twist!

5. The more they struggle the better.  Channel your evilest self into this death of a character.  It's slow, they're trying to fight back, they WANT to survive, but they can't.

Ps. Don't make it too long and drawn out because otherwise it's less effective and the reader is waiting on them to die. For example, (My Hero Academia spoilers), Sir Night Eye's death didn't bother me at all. It took him a full three episodes to actually die. I didn't care at that point.

6. Let them die before they complete their character arc. That's pure evil.  Especially if they really had good potential as a better character. And they were slowly improving. Yeah. Let them die.

7. If they have a funeral, don't spend too much time on it.  It suddenly becomes less sad. (Endgame spoiler) Tony Stark and Natasha's funeral was so brief, and with hardly anyone speaking throughout it, it left an impact on the movie.

8. Don't describe in detail how they're dying.  Don't take forever to kill the character.  If they get shot, and you suddenly have them talking about everything they didn't accomplish in life and how much they're trying to survive, while describing the intense pain they're feeling, while talking about the reactions of all your other character, the mood dies.  The reader won't care.

9. But also don't make it brief. Find the hood in between.  

The best example I can think of off the top of my head (Spoilers for Harry Potter) is when Dumbledore dies.  It's such a shock for Harry, and it's so sudden.  You don't have to read about how dramatic his fall was or how everyone reacted.  All you feel is Harry, and he doesn't know how to react at all.  He's too stunned. And it isn't until a chapter or so later that it finally sinks in, especially when the other characters find out.

10. Don't kill a character at the very end. Unless it's a series and you're ending your book on a dramatic flare to torture your readers, aspiring to be like Rick Riordan, then go for it. Kill your character in the middle.  The readers have time to like them, or get attached, and then also have time to let their death feel more real. Yes, that character died. They're not coming back. But the story goes on.

This would be, (Hunger Games spoilers), Rue's death. You know at some point she has to die but you don't know when and when it finally happens, it's hard to swallow. She's not coming back for the rest of the book, ever. Katniss can't even mourn, because there is no time. She's in the middle of the games, and if she dwells on this, she dies as well. 

11. This is cliche but you could have a character die trying to sacrifice themselves to save someone or something. (Don't have them jump in front of a bullet though. No one can react that fast and it's stupid.) But HUGE franchises can pull this off and have been super successful in doing so. (Endgame spoilers) Tony Stark's death is impactful both because he's such an adored character, and also because of his sacrifice. His death meant the entire universe would live. Any military themed movies use this trope and it's a good way to make the audience SOB.

12. If they have a lover, make them give up. The character dies and their significant other is so distraught that they can't possibly continue to fight on.  They give up entirely.  This death shakes their world.  And it's even worse if other characters are less affected/don't care.

13. Someone/something that loves them is unaware and another character has to find the courage to tell them they're dead.  Or if you want to be the next biggest villain of the world you could have their pet come looking for them. Make their pet continuously check different rooms of their house or visit the character's friends in hopes of finding them.

14. Have a family member witness the death. That's just really sad.

15. If they were murdered, let the murderer get away with it. Or if it's an unknown killer, let the reader know who it is so they can get frustrated when that character plays innocent and doesn't get punished/caught.

16. If the characters care, the reader will care.

17. Have another character desperately try to save them and fail. Let them fail miserably. Let them blame their death on themselves.

18. DON'T BRING THE CHARACTER BACK FROM THE DEAD UNLESS ITS PLOT IMPORTANT! This is seriously bothersome because it just makes the reader feel stupid. Or if they get revived, any death of a character that follows won't be taken seriously from the reader.

19. If you do revive them, have something about them changed. Perhaps their lover managed to find a way to bring them back but when they're revived, they can't feel any love towards that character who revived them. Or they don't have the same personality and it becomes noticeable and unsettling to the other characters. Yes, they're back. But it's not the right version of them.

20. Have someone who loves them kill them.  They don't want to but either they have to or the character requests it from them. In the film "Million Dollar Baby" the main character gets brain trauma after hitting her neck on a stool during a boxing match. She becomes completely paralyzed, she can hardly speak, and she's basically become a human vegetable. This in and of itself is sad but when she asks her trainer to to kill her, that's what makes her death ever more impactful.  Because she doesn't have a reason to live anymore, she feels she's already had a great life and doesn't want to live being a human ornament. And so he finally complies, and the audience just cries.

If you have any questions, go ahead and ask!