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Killing characters
I'm fiddling with the plot of the sequel to the original novel I recently finished (this'll be book 2 in the series), and one thing I'm struggling with is the whole question of killing off characters. There's a part where I think it would be, for lack of a better way to phrase it, dramatically interesting to kill a particular (minor) character. It would underscore the dangerousness of their current activities, and slingshot the main character into the final dramatic confrontation. And the character who is (maybe) slated to die is someone who shares some significant qualities with another character, so killing her off would remove that redundancy. Basically, if anyone is going to die in this book -- and I really feel that someone should, because there are about fifty billion characters and they're doing something really dangerous, so having them all survive feels like a dramatic cop-out -- this character is the logical one to take one for the team.
But ... I don't actually want to kill her! I like her! I like her whole character concept, I think readers would resent having her killed off (she's an actual historical figure, given a fantasy twist, who is widely liked -- for that matter, I feel a bit weird about killing her for that reason if nothing else), and killing her would also torpedo her relationship with her best friend/partner, which is really cute and fun to write.
I keep struggling with the feeling that I'd be wimping out by deciding not to kill her off. My writing instincts keep saying "Kill her, it's best for that part of the story." And yet, I really don't like character deaths all that much, and, as a reader, I absolutely hate it when the author kills a character I liked in order to add ~drama~ or to prove that things are serious ... which is kinda what I'm doing here.
So, er, thoughts? What do you think about killing off characters? Is it overdone and best avoided at all costs, or is it a necessary sacrifice that the author needs to suck up and deal with?
ETA: Actually, ha, I think I just came up with an entirely different solution to my dilemma that would work equally well! But the question stands ... it's an interesting one to ponder.
But ... I don't actually want to kill her! I like her! I like her whole character concept, I think readers would resent having her killed off (she's an actual historical figure, given a fantasy twist, who is widely liked -- for that matter, I feel a bit weird about killing her for that reason if nothing else), and killing her would also torpedo her relationship with her best friend/partner, which is really cute and fun to write.
I keep struggling with the feeling that I'd be wimping out by deciding not to kill her off. My writing instincts keep saying "Kill her, it's best for that part of the story." And yet, I really don't like character deaths all that much, and, as a reader, I absolutely hate it when the author kills a character I liked in order to add ~drama~ or to prove that things are serious ... which is kinda what I'm doing here.
So, er, thoughts? What do you think about killing off characters? Is it overdone and best avoided at all costs, or is it a necessary sacrifice that the author needs to suck up and deal with?
ETA: Actually, ha, I think I just came up with an entirely different solution to my dilemma that would work equally well! But the question stands ... it's an interesting one to ponder.