Series 4, Post 3: When is it OK or Not OK to Kill a Main Character?

By Sara E Thompto

Image courtesy of sakhorn38 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Lately I’ve been reading quite a few books where the main character, or one of the main characters, die. And to put it mildly, the death’s seem to be kind of pointless, which really ruins the whole book (or series).

I’m personally not against books where an important character, or even the main character, dies. It can be the thing in the book that makes or breaks the storyline. But, if you’re going to kill off the character, in which the majority of the book or series surrounds, an author has an obligation to do it the “right” way. Meaning it's written in a way where it fits the plot and the death is executed well. Because a poorly executed death can take what could have been a phenomenal piece of writing, and completely bulldoze the entire story to the ground.

After long thought about deaths of main characters, this is what I’ve come up with…

Some of the Most Popular Reasons to Kill off a Main Character

• Rallies a call to action: By killing your main character or one of your lead characters, it rallies the other characters into taking some sort of action; ie: making a broken group come together as one to solve a problem or setting another character onto a path or revenge that pushes forward the story line.

• Saving Others (hero/heroine) or Completing the Mission:  The main character, with their last bit of life, leaps forward and kills the antagonist, saving all of his or her friends. Or maybe the self-detonation feature has stopped working on a bomb, and the only way to set it off is to manually do it, with no chance at getting away. Either of these scenarios are situations that would make your characters death understandable.
• Illness: Whether mental or physical illness, this is the type of plotline where death often happens. With this story it’s already in readers minds that death is a possibility, so it’s really all about how the rest of the book makes them feel. Is it about hope and inspiration or will it be more raw and about wading through the emotions associated with death.
• Their spouse, love, good friend, or child has already died: When a loved one dies and you feel the grief of the main character, it eases the impact on the reader if the main character dies as well. Usually if a writer creates such strong emotion about the death of the main characters loved one, the reader gets sucked into that character's world and, within the story, suddenly the main characters death makes more sense (which could go into the category of mental illness).

Thing to Consider if You’re Going to Kill off Your Main Character

• Foreshadow the death: Don’t give it away (unless it’s something like a terminal illness and the book is specifically about death) but work up towards the death. Even if it’s a “surprise” death, you can still start to add in foreshadowing. If it’s a battle, discuss the dangers that are involved. If the killer is another character you've discussed, perhaps bring into the story line how they seem unstable or seem to be emotional, above the norm. Have a confrontation. Maybe the character discusses their views of the afterlife? There are numerous ways to bring up a possible death without blatantly spelling it out.
• Make sure it’s well written: Your readers stuck with you for your entire story, whether 10 pages or an entire series, and they deserve a good death scene. Your work as an author also deserves a good death scene. The death scene, along with the aftermath, is not a good time to skimp on writing. Emotions and details and descriptions are important. We all like to think our writing is solid, but I strongly suggest getting feedback from multiple people who have come to know the character as well.
• Give the readers time to grieve: Do not end the book right after the death of the main character without some sort of small wrap up. Allow some time for the readers to become adjusted to the death of the character before simply posting “the end” and if you can manage to show life moving on, this is an added bonus for the grieving process.
• Show why the death was needed: Through your writing, either with build up or after the death, make it crystal clear why it was important for the main character to die. Why wasn’t there another way feasible way for this story to end?

If you cannot answer the question posted in the last sentence, perhaps you should read the next section closely.

When you Should NOT kill Your Main Character

• When you can’t think of anything else: Never, and I mean never, kill your main character simply because you cannot think of another ending. Your readers deserve more than that, and your work deserves more.
• Just because it’s ironic: Irony is a great tool for a plot twist. But, an ironic death for the sake of an ironic death is not a good excuse to kill of your main character. There still has to be some other point (causing a call to action by another character, saving others, or because it is really what the story is all about).
• Because you didn’t want another “happy ending” book: I understand this reason. It seems feasible enough. There are many books out there that make out too happy in the end, and the book becomes forgettable. However, you have still created a world in which readers have become attached to your main character. If you kill them simply because you don’t want “another happy ending” then you didn’t think hard enough. There are many directions a book can take to not be cliché with a perfectly tied up happy ending.

Do you have any tips for writers on when you think it’s ok or not ok to kill off a main character? Be sure to leave a comment!