Thread: procrastination writing death of main characters

My first book has four main characters, to whom I became rather attached after working with them and their stories for several years. The sequel, however, has different main characters, though the four from the first book play rather large roles as well.

My problem is, I have definitely decided that the four main characters from the first book must die in the second for the story to progress in any way, but I am just... very attached to them. The next part of the second book is the one where my favorite character dies, and I've been procrastinating because I don't want to have to write it. I know I'll cry like a big baby doing it and feel like a murderer.

Is it weird to become so attached to fictional characters? I feel as if they are my children. Does anyone have any advice on how to get past this and just write it? It's difficult...

Well, that's either normal or we're weird the same way

It's pretty common for an author to become attached to his/her characters. I had to kill off a main character recently too and I felt like a twat for a few days afterward, but once I discovered that it helped the story I was fine with it. Sometimes we have to be ruthless for the sake of the story.

I can sympathize--even empathize. But there are worse fates than death, you can raise them and they can still live in your head for RPs and short stories (possibly under aliases)

Just keep in mind that it could always be worse. Better to die horribly and be martyred saving the world than to... oh, I don't know, go crazy and live as an animal, coating oneself in crap; have one's mind completely scrambled, become an incontinent, drooling heap that used to be the coolest man on the planet... who now can't remember his kids or anyone else and thanks his wife for changing his diapers even though he's forgotten who she is....

Always worse things. Just comfort them with that.

and when all else fails, introduce them to a character who preaches that The story Must Go On. that their destiny is to die for the story. I have one of those, and he's wonderful when other characters refuse to cooperate.

Definitely understand this dilema myself. I've recently had to whack 3 characters in my serial and 3 characters in my novel. 2 from the novel and 1 from the serial really hit me hard, especially the one from the serial. I grew so attached to the kid and brought him up out of such tragic circumstances. And then BOOM! Just like that, he's dead. But I felt that I just had to do it. Sometimes an author has gotta do what an author has
gotta do.

The sadness that you feel for having to kill your characters can work to your advantage, those emotions when you write their deaths will/could/should show through in your writing, making your story much more believable and help your reader empathize with their deaths more.

Good point, Tep. After all, if you don't care when your character does, no one else will.

After all, if you don't care when your character does, no one else will.

The absolute greatest maxim of all, concerning characters.

However, I also refuse to reach a compromise with my characters. I might feel like a completely *sshole for killing of my main characters, but if it conveys the themes in the story and it is absolutely essential, then I know it has to be done. I'd never force a character whose fate I'd already decided in the creation process to keep living. In the same way, I'd never force a character to die if I'd known his fate was to live. It's all crucial to the story and the themes you try to explore.

For some reason, Stranger Than Fiction comes to mind.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Knowing I'm not crazy helps a bit. I'm going to make my first attempt at writing the death scene sometime today. *sigh* =[

My writing always stays firmly in the realm of fantasy, and we all know that death in fantasy can be about as permanent as a runny nose.

I always establish some kind of afterlife, or if I don't want to do that, Ill have the deceased interact with the new main character somehow, just to show that they are still out there somewhere

Then your characters have nothing to worry about.

Mine, on the other hand, have this tendency to stay dead. If I mean for them to come back at some point, I don't mind killing them off.

It's not weird to feel attached to your characters and feel sad when one of them have to die. Arranging a real-life funeral, on the other hand...

Originally Posted by WriterDude

It's not weird to feel attached to your characters and feel sad when one of them have to die. Arranging a real-life funeral, on the other hand...

Yeeeah...that might be a little weird.

Originally Posted by WriterDude

It's not weird to feel attached to your characters and feel sad when one of them have to die. Arranging a real-life funeral, on the other hand...

Been there, done that. Twice. Not fun.

I didn't kill off a character (yet), but I feel their emotions. In my novel I'm trying to write, there's a young teen who is the victim of sexual abuse. Writing some of the scenes makes me cry.

I feel the same. A lot of the times the characters are good characters who deserve so much more than what fate is giving them, but sadly it's the way of the story, the way their story was meant to end.