Character deaths in stories can range from heart-grabbingly tragic to eye-rollingly stupid.
So how do you make sure that the characters in your stories will pluck at heartstrings instead of funny bones?
Let’s find out!
During the last stream, we talk about the three components of a good character death.
Watch the full video here or scroll down for the highlights.
The three components to a good character death:
#1. Do we care about the character? (3 points)
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- The more time we’ve spent with a character, the harder their death will hit us, though the quality of that time is more important than quality.
- This means usually deaths that occur toward the end are more impactful, but with a little work and a lot of showing, early deaths can have a big impact too.
- If we don’t care about a character’s life, then we won’t care about their death
- (The more we care about a character, the more points they get.)
#2. Does the death fit with the character/plot? (2 points)
- A death needs to feel real AND organic otherwise it will fall flat
- Ex: a character who’s shown to be a strong warrior can’t just die easily to an amateur (doesn’t feel real)
- Ex: a character who dies just for the sake of the plot will stick out as fake (doesn’t feel organic)
- The best character deaths feel like a natural, integral part of the story.
- (1 point for real, 1 point for organic.)
#3. Is the death surprising? (1 point)
- The most dangerous component, but also very potent.
- Potent because a surprising death can shock the reader into an emotional response.
- Dangerous because inexperienced authors might shoehorn deaths into stories that don’t belong.
- A surprising death without the other components will just feel lame, like a jumpscare in a horror film.
- (1 point, also the least important of the three.)
Let’s Rate Some Deaths!
(Each out of a total of 6 points)
#1. Lion King: Mufasa (6) vs. Scar (5)
— Scar’s death is not surprising, but that’s fine.#2. Sad Endings: Old Yeller (6) vs. Titanic (5)
— Jack’s death doesn’t quite fit with the character, we saw him be so resourceful.#3. Hunger Games: Rue (6) vs. Prim (4)
— We don’t know Prim that well, death feels like it comes out of nowhere.#4. Pixar: Up (6) vs. Finding Nemo (3)
— We don’t know Nemo’s mom, her death feels a bit out of nowhere.#5. HP: Sirius (3) vs. Dumbledore (6) vs. Snape (3) vs. Dobby (1)
— Sirius/Snape are secondary characters, doesn’t fit their characters and come out of nowhere.
— Dobby’s death is surprising… and that’s it.#6. GoT: Ned Stark (6) vs. Rob Stark (6) vs. Joffrey (6) vs. Daenerys (3)
— We care less about Daenerys after what she did, her death is not surprising.
Be sure to check out the video above for more examples of emotional/terrible deaths from chat!
After that we edited a story that an AI wrote that started with this sentence: As I soon discovered, the problem with death was how permanent it was.
As I soon discovered, the problem with death was how permanent it was. After a decade of watching my body die from the comfort of my hospice bed, it was something of an unsettling realization. That feeling that the moment I was gone, my body would go too. Just like the stars.
The idea of a perfect corpse took hold of me. A body that remained forever, despite no one inhabiting it. I even began to think that perhaps I wouldn’t die at all, because my body would never decompose.
After years of grieving, I started to find the courage to prepare. I began writing about how my body-shell was to be handled after my passing, and I was able to live a lot more freely.
I wanted to create, something that had been impossible since the accident. Only by twitching eyelids could I chisel words onto the flickering yellowed screen one pained character at a time. For years all I had known was death, so I struggled to find the expressions for life. To tell my story publicly. To stay alive forever.
I could’ve asked someone else to write it for me, but I couldn’t. I wanted to make the book myself so I could finally share my
If you want to join us and help write a story by trolling in chat, or share your own writing for feedback, then we’d love to have you join us on Twitch.
And you missed the stream, you can still watch them on the YouTube channel or watch the full stream reruns.
Hope to see you next time, friend!
Featured image: Pakutaso (edited by me)