Teardrops for the Fallen

I know Tuesday is usually my day, but I'm getting a jump start on this. I've got so much on my mind lately that I'll forget and Monday night is close enough.

Characters die. It happens in countless stories.

Readers may imagine that writers are gleefully cackling to themselves as they sentence a character to an early demise, but we feel the loss just as strongly. As creators of characters, it can be gut-wrenching to take them away, not only is it work lost (as in most cases, characters don't come back to life) but we grew to know them and like them, flaws and all.

I haven't been the cause of too many character deaths yet, but I'm learning the value of them. Or the value of making it look like a character died, it can be fun to tease the readers with a particular tear jerker moment then relieve them with a joyful reunion. However, it's best not to do that too often as readers will catch on and also think that you will never really kill anyone.


There is a particular death that will makes me cry just reading the moment where the other character has lost him. It's devastating. Her disbelief and shock almost lead her to drastic measures such as climbing over a balcony, but others hold her back while she fervently denies his death. It's going to crush me when I get to it, but fortunately we're years away from that point.

Recently someone asked me about an author's emotional attachment to their writing. For me personally, I can get very attached, not just to my characters but the work itself. It's difficult to snip and cut, but it's necessary. The story won't grow if it isn't edited (which is a topic we'll delve into on another week).

As authors and writers, I believe that we feel very strongly about our characters. It's like raising a child that begins to walk and talk and take action without you, when suddenly they choose something that takes them off the playing field. It can be very unexpected for us, because characters will run away with the story if you let them. Which is why we feel a strong need to make their deaths count, because a pointless death in a story will often lead us feeling disheartened and belligerent.

If you want to learn more about reactions to death, then check out my post: How to Handle Death and Other Grave Topics, it's under June for 2018. What characters do you mourn? Has there been a death that has taken you by surprise?

J.K. Rowling crushed my heart when she killed Fred and Lupin and Sirius and...this list could really go on for a while so I'll cut it short. Let's just say that there are books that make your eyes gush.