Listening to: It's all in my mind, Beck
I'm toying/struggling with the idea of killing off a character. It's a tough decision, in some ways I think the character has run his course and death is a tidy way of removing him from the remainder of the story also, his demise will show the power the antagonist wields. But on the other hand there's only three characters and this one has become the comedy relief; I'm worried readers would be put off by his untimely departure.
Nick Daws (see previous post) has some tips on working through issues such as these. Basically by asking myself questions about the subject I can develop the story according to my answers... and my answers lean to death for the poor fellow.
If that's the route I take I will then need to work out how to do it. One thing's for sure I won't be bringing my story to life like an aspiring Mexican Horror writer has done. Police came to his apartment looking for his missing girlfriend and found some of her body parts in the fridge... he had even cooked some of it. Full story here.
Meanwhile, on a much lighter tone, I have updated the look of this blog (and the linked samples), taking advantage of the improved templates Blogger have on offer. Also, the Progressometer has been brought up to date by upping the desired total word count of the finished product by 10,000 to 50,000 words. The current count is 21,770.
Steve
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5 comments:
Hi Steve. I like the new blog look.
I was thinking about the killing your character issue. There are other ways to "kill" character you could consider. One thing could be the death of one that character's close relatives, like a parent, sibling, or lover. This can really take a character out of the picture, or make them more or less sympathetic depending on how they handle the tragedy.
Another thing you could do would be seriously injure or sicken your character. Any kind of dramatic change can help shake things up and move the story along.
Of course, just plain killing the character can work too. Heck I kill off most of my characters (but I'm writing a disaster story ;)
Since my story also revolves around a disaster (of sorts) I think I can safely remove him from the story with his death, or at the least, disappearance.
Actually, I like the disappearance angle. His fate could be left in the balance until later in the story.
Disappearance is good... My main antagonist disappears for half the novel...until she reappears at the most inopportune time for my protagonist.
And then she keeps coming back at the worst possible times...including the thrilling climax ;)
I think I know that woman :)
Good words.
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