This is a reupload of a post from Instagram originally made in July of 2022 with some edits for improved clarity and accuracy. All ideas expressed are personal opinions based on my experience as a writer. Thanks for reading!
- If you’re opening a story with a character death, utilize flashbacks to build their personality after the fact.
- Demonstrate the impact the death has on the other characters and the story as a whole; allow them to react to the death and show the ramifications throughout the story rather than just in the initial scene.
- Don’t rely on shock value! Have the death happen for a reason and allow other elements from the story to build suspense.
- Use foreshadowing to point to the death in advance. Plant hints in the story along the way.
- Use the death as a way to initiate further conflict throughout the story. It can result in a mystery, revenge plot, etc.
- Experiment with different causes and ramifications. Was it the result of a betrayal? Was it planned or orchestrated? Was it an accident?
- Develop the character before writing their death. Rather than setting out to write someone with the intention of killing them off later, treat them as you would any other character.
- Remember, a well-written character death can ground an otherwise fantastic story in reality.
- Avoid using death to make characters sad for the sake of making them sad.
- Avoid using death to remove a flat or “useless” character; instead edit characters like that out of the story.
- Avoid killing off a character just to un-kill them later; if death isn’t permanent, it removes any sense of consequence within the narrative.
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