Hi Jim,

This may sound silly, but I was wondering if you’ve ever had a hard time killing off a character in your stories? I’m at the point where I’m about to kill one off and I admit that every time I try to write the words, I freeze up. I just spent so much time writing this character and I really like them, but it was always the plan to kill him off. I basically took everything I love about my boyfriend and put it into this character along with some of plot devices and personality quirks. Maybe I’m being a bit of a drama queen, but I’m just having a hard time with it.

Thanks,
Mandi.

Hi Mandi,

I don’t think you’re being a drama queen at all… maybe slightly melodramatic, but to be honest, it kind of comes with the playing field of being a writer. Yes I have had trouble killing off a character. Its always something that I have a hard time with.

You spend a lot of time creating this character, all your characters. They’re like your children in many respects. You develop a connection with them. So of course its going to be difficult to kill one off.

I would say that your cardinal sin was using your boyfriend as the template. As someone who’s made this mistake, I can tell you that it makes things a hundred times harder. Know for the future and don’t base characters on loved ones. It doesn’t usually work out to well.

Honestly… there’s no rule saying that you HAVE TO do it. Your story, your rules. As long as you can keep the character alive without violating the rules you set up, you should be fine.

That said… I would try your hardest to detach yourself from the situation and still kill him off. Nothing is more powerful than when you kill off a character that you clearly cared about. When you put your heart and soul into something, it shows. Your audience will see that and feel the same way about the character that you do. This will make it much more powerful when they die.

So it’s up to you. In the end, only you can determine the fate of your characters. If you’d like me to take a look at the story so far and give you my two cents on how to do this, I’d be happy to. Shoot me an email.

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

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Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim