The Ultimate Guide to Harry Potter Fanfiction

Suicide

The topic was requested by kneebrain.

It's going to be a dark chapter, and if you feel that it would be triggering to you, please don't feel obligated to read. I'm going to be talking about reasons for suicide, and when and how to use it in a story without perpetuating lies and romanticizing it. If you have struggled with suicidal thoughts, or known someone who committed suicide, my heart goes out to you. Do not read this chapter if it would be difficult for you.

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This is a very serious topic, and it is never one to be taken lightly by any author. Out of all the ways to kill off a character, this is the one that is probably easiest to mess up, but has the worse consequences for doing so. I've talked a bit about suicide in my chapter on depression, but I'm going to focus on it today.

There are two ways suicide can affect your plot: either your POV character struggles with suicidal thoughts/commits suicide (though a POV character committing suicide is rare, unless that's specifically the story you're trying to tell or there are other POV characters), or someone close to them struggles with suicidal thoughts/commits suicide. Of course, both of these things can be handled very badly (see my discussion of 13 Reasons Why from the depression chapter), or very well.

Mentalhealthscreening.org had an article about how to write about suicide. It's not aimed at fiction writers, but I think the general principles are something every writer needs to understand, fiction or no. I'm going to copy the relevant parts here (they've done a really good job explaining), then give you my thoughts on the subject.

One of the most essential things we can do to reduce the stigma around mental health is to talk about it. But when discussing mental health publicly, such as on social media or in a blog post, how you discuss it can either be helpful or hurtful to your audience. This distinction is never more crucial than when discussing suicide.

When a public suicide happens, and those who report on it or discuss it only aren't careful with their messaging, it can actually cause what's called "suicide contagion." Contagion is a phenomenon in which additional suicides happen after the coverage of a suicide in the media. Seeing suicide sensationalized or even glamorized can make those who are already heaving suicidal thoughts feel like suicide is inevitable, common, or even the right escape from their pain. There are ways to talk about suicide openly, while being cautious not to risk suicide contagion.

One thing most experts emphasize is making sure to not write extensively about how the suicide was committed. Now is not the time to be graphic or go into detail. Copycat suicide, something I talked about in the chapter on depression, is when a person sees how a suicide is committed in the media and copies it.

You have to be incredibly careful in your writing about this delicate topic. There are so many ways to do it wrong. I'll give you some general things to avoid here:

1. Don't Make It Inevitable
If your POV character is the one who commits suicide, or even if it's simply a close friend, never make it seem like suicide is the only option. Show clearly that there are other ways. Your character doesn't have to see that, and he can think it's inevitable, but your readers have to come away knowing for a fact that suicide is never the only option.

2. Don't Glamorize It
Glamorizing suicide can happen several ways. It can happen the way Thirteen Reasons Why's season one had it: with Hannah's suicide seeming to pull together her school and community, somehow ultimately working for good. That's awful. Horrible. Suicide is never a good thing, and you can't show good consequences of it. You have to show how horribly it effects other people: parents, friends, classmates, teachers. Write that grief, no matter how difficult it is. Show that this is an absolute tragedy, and there is no good that comes from it.

There's another way to glamorize suicide, as well: the tumblr type of romanticizing mental illness. Making suicide seem poetic, almost. Making mental illness and depression out to be a beautiful, if sad, thing. This is wrong on so many levels. There's nothing beautiful about depression. People who say there is aren't depressed. And there's definitely nothing beautiful about taking your own life. Is there anything beautiful about a parent walking into their child's room and finding them dead? Is there anything beautiful in that grief? No. And to say there is is to slap every person who's ever lost someone to suicide in the face.

3. Don't Shrink From Showing the Aftermath
The aftermath is one of the most difficult things to write about when dealing with suicide. However, you have to show it. For one thing, it's a really great way to get those feels (which should never be your primary motivation for including suicide in your story, of course).

For another, a lot of suicidal people don't focus on the consequences of their decision. They think that no one would miss them, that everyone would be better off if they were dead. They are incredibly self-focused, unable or unwilling to put themselves in the shoes of the people around them to see how it would actually affect them. That's a symptom of their mental illness, of course, but it means that it's very important for you, as an author, to show how horrible the consequences of that mindset can be.

Hold back when describing the suicide itself, but don't hold back here. Show the awful, gritty details of everyone's pain. Show parents unable to cope with losing their child, crying late into the night and unable to be comforted. Show younger siblings not even sure what happened, but knowing their brother or sister is gone forever. Show friends who feel responsible, as if they could have done or said something to stop this. Show teachers and guidance counselors feeling guilty, as if they should have known, as if they should have been able to stop it. Show how this affects literally everyone person in the character's life negatively. If there are any suicidal people reading your work, jar them out of the idea that their actions don't affect others. Show very clearly that they do.

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Let me just say that I think you should consider long and hard before including suicide in your story. It's so easy to mess up, so difficult to get right. Consider whether you want to commit yourself to that. Consider whether you want that weight on your shoulders. It's a very big deal, and like I said before, you can't treat it lightly.

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This chapter took so long to get out because it was really hard to write. Sorry about that! This is a really difficult topic and I wanted to make sure everything I said was correct! The last thing I ever want to do is spread misinformation!

If you have any questions about this topic or about your story, let me know in the comments or feel free to dm me! I'm always happy to help however I can!