Cut the Thread: When to Eliminate a Character From Your Story

This week we’re talking about death (also fitting because this week was day of the dead). Killing off your characters can have a huge emotional impact on the story but can also be used strategically for a variety of storytelling purposes. On the flip side we all know at least one story where a character death felt completely unnecessary and damaging to the story or when we felt a character should have died but somehow miraculously survived because…the author said so.

To determine if a character should get killed off in your story, think about your plot: would their death further the plot? Would their death have an emotional impact on the character? Would it make sense for the character to die? There are a million reasons why you could decide a character needs to go and all are acceptable as long as you have some sort of intention behind it.

For example, when brainstorming The Visionary, Kamryn and I had to make some pretty tough decisions about our character’s pasts and futures. I will say that each and every death suggested was by yours truly. Kamryn is a big softie and has saved a few characters from their almost unfortunate demise while I am team: No One is Safe. Behind each death I suggested, I had to give a rationale that would convince Kamryn and our future readers why this makes sense. For some, it was about necessity and tying up character arcs. For others, it was simply because them being alive would complicate the story too much.

A lot of authors write their younger-protagonists as orphaned or having only one parent. Parents nurture and protect their children and usually don’t allow for crazy adventures. It also gives the protagonist a reason to stand out and be different. Think of Harry Potter. He is, “The boy who lived,” when his parents died. If they survived, not only would he not have that title, but the wizarding world wouldn’t be as magical in our eyes and Harry wouldn’t necessarily be the best fit as the protagonist growing up with rich wizard parents that likely would teach him to keep out of trouble.

This is a sensitive topic, and understandably, it should be very difficult to let go of your characters (unless you wrote them in to be killed off, more on that soon). However, be very cautious of letting your own attachment to a character keep you from being objective to what fits best for your story. When a character brushes off a fatal wound and suffers no repercussions the reader feels cheated and the story feels cheapened. As much as we love our characters, make sure you do their character arcs justice.

Now, sometimes we write characters for the sole purpose of being killed off. Maybe they are a side character who will be the catalyst for the protagonist to fight. Maybe they are a mentor-figure who forces the protagonist to go off on their own and believe in themselves. Maybe they are an arrogant character that showcases what the protagonist is trying to avoid. Whatever the case may be, these characters have a specific and intentional purpose with their death. A great example is the book They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera. As the title suggests, these characters were written to die. With that in mind, the author tells a story about living life to the fullest and processing death as a part of life. I talked about it more in-depth in a reading wrap-up so be sure to check it out!

One of the main things you want to avoid is killing off a character just to be shocking. If a death comes from nowhere with no forewarning it comes off as lazy writing and under-developed. If you need a new plot point, you can kill off a character but it needs to be purposeful and ideally foreshadowed earlier in the story, if possible. Why do they need to die? What events will cause their inevitable death? How can you shift the story so that it makes sense and even if it hurts, feels satisfactory to the story.

Ultimately, when deciding a character's fate, take time to put thought and meaning behind it. That was a lot of death talk, feel free to watch a happy show or reread your comfort novel. Were there any deaths in a book or TV show that felt out of place? Was there a character death that absolutely destroyed you? Let us know and we will see you next week! Write-on!