HelloOoOo everybody!
Today we're talking about every writer’s secret obsession and that is killing off characters. Specifically, how to write an impactful death scene. Death scenes are very common in fiction because writers are fucking nuts! The problem is death scenes can make or break a piece of fiction depending on how they're written, why they're written, and how they impact the overall story. You want your death scene to mean something to the audience. That doesn't mean it has to be sad or make some kind of spectacle, but even the smaller deaths have to pack some kind of punch. That's where I come in! I'm breaking down the top 10 tips for writing a death scene that gets under your reader’s skin in three, two, one, go!
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Number 1: What’s the Point?
Not every death in your book needs to be monumental, but it does have to serve some kind of purpose. Your job is to figure out the point of the death scene before you write it. And no, making the reader sad is not a reason. It has to serve some greater significance to the plot. For example, maybe this death proves to the MC or the reader just how formidable the villain is. Maybe it launches the MC into their breaking point. Maybe it's the inciting incident. Nailing down the purpose of the death scene will make it a lot easier to write because you will have an immediate idea of the tone and gravity that the death scene needs to hold.
Number 2: Shock Value Doesn’t Count
It's awesome when a death is shocking, but shock value cannot be the sole reason behind it. Full stop.
“But Jenna, I'm an evil, sadistic writer! I love tormenting my readers!”
The joke's on you, ’cause you're just tormenting them by writing a really shitty book. First of all, it's an amateur move. Lots of newbies take this route because they were shocked by deaths in some of their favorite series and they want to emulate them. But I can almost guarantee that those scenes you're emulating were more than just shocking. They affected the plot in some way and you just overlooked it.
Second, shock value is cheap. The readers know what you're doing and it lessens the quality of the reading experience. Third, shock loses its value when repeated, because readers start to expect it. Instead of making your deaths impactful, you're actually doing the opposite. Shocking deaths are great to write and super entertaining, provided that's not their sole purpose.
Number 3: Relation to the MC
If you're gonna kill off a character, you have to determine their relation to the MC in order to get an idea of how it will affect the reader. Readers are experiencing the story through the main character, so if the main character barely knows a person who dies, guess what? Readers aren't gonna give a shit. This means their death needs to serve a purpose other than making the main character depressed or sad. Maybe the death is shocking or horrifying to them.
On the flip side, if your main character is super close with the victim, then they will likely be a mess when they die and readers will, in theory, feel the same. This is important to analyze. Otherwise, you may end up killing a character and expecting a reaction that doesn't translate at all. If you kill off the MC’s best friend and their only reaction is to fear for their own life, that'll make them seem like a heartless dick. If you kill off a stranger and the MC mourns for months, now they just look like a big wuss. Know what this character means to your MC and it will significantly help with creating the right tone.
Number 4: Mirror the Emotion
Whatever emotion you're trying to convey with this death needs to be mirrored in the pacing. If the death is swift and shocking, then the pacing needs to be swift and abrupt. Don't drag out the death in long, rambling sentences; it'll make it feel like it's happening at a snail's pace, which is the opposite of what you want. On the flip side, if the death is long and agonizing, then the pacing should be slower, with much longer sentences. Emotions translate heavily into sentence structure, so take advantage of that by making your readers feel the way you want them to feel.
Number 5: Show, Don’t Tell
If your character's dad dies and you say to the reader, “He was sad,” that's not gonna mean shit to them. Showing the emotion and utilizing your character’s five senses will make the death much more impactful. If the character is indeed sad, describe them sobbing as they cradled their face in their hands. Describe how the sadness feels in their body, the ache of their lungs, and the thickness in their throat. Can they smell the blood and sweat on the battlefield? Can they taste the salt of their own tears? Do they hear the cries of mourners? Setting the scene in this manner is going to make the death scene much more evocative to the reader, as opposed to just saying, “A character died and the MC is upset about it.”
Number 6: Avoid Melodrama
We've all seen the same reactions to death scenes over and over again. The MC hovers over the body while screaming, “Nooooo!” into the darkness. Maybe they shake their fists at the heavens while screaming, “Why, God! Why?” Maybe they lean over the corpse while whispering, “I shall avenge you.”
Before you write this, ask yourself, “Would this happen in real life?” Would you do this? If the answer is, “No,” you got yourself some melodrama. Death is a real thing that happens every day, and it's tragic and emotional all on its own. You don't need to cartoonify the experience to get a reaction. If anything, you're just making it less relatable.
Number 7: Remember the Effect
How many times have you read a book where a character dies and life goes on like nothing happened? As we already covered, your character’s death needs to serve a purpose, and that will likely have an effect both on the plot and the characters themselves. If the death scene exists to show just how powerful the villain is, then your characters will be affected accordingly, either by being fearful, intimidated, or more determined than ever to stop them. If a death breaks the character’s heart, they are not going to be back to normal the next day. They are going to be mourning for some time. Death can trigger PTSD or depression. Death can trigger rage. How your character reacts is just as important, if not more important, than the death itself.
Number 8: Foreshadowing Is Not Your Friend
There are always exceptions to the rule, but nine times out of ten, foreshadowing a death is not a good look. Congratulations! You just eliminated the element of surprise and dampened the emotional experience. That was stupid. If the reader knows that death is coming, they have time to prepare themselves, which is not what you want. You want them to be caught off guard. You want the death to feel unpredictable. Of course, if the character is dying of disease or wasting away with old age, it doesn't matter what you do. Readers know what's gonna happen. Additionally, there are situations where the reader will expect the death but still be surprised due to the nature in which it occurs. However, outside of these circumstances, lay off the foreshadowing if you can.
Number 9: Resurrect at Your Own Risk
There are plenty of stories where a character dies and comes back to life for whatever reason. Sometimes this is necessary for the plot, other times it's a cop-out. Before you resurrect a character, be 100% certain that this is what the story needs. Know from the start that this resurrection is going to cheapen the death, and depending on how it's handled, it may cheapen all future deaths throughout the series. Sometimes this is okay, especially if the resurrection happens immediately after the death, because then the reader doesn't have time to become emotionally affected. It also works if the resurrection offers some kind of revelation, like immortality or brand-new magic. But the more you lay on the emotion over the death and the longer you wait to resurrect them, the bigger the risk. You may be pissing your readers right off.
Number 10: Calm Down
A lot of writers, especially newbies, feel like they gotta write a massacre in order to be edgy.
“I'm not a regular writer. I'm a cool writer!”
It's fine to kill off a lot of characters. Hell, I've done it myself! But as we've already mentioned, it needs to make sense for the story. You're not “cool” just because you spilled blood, and if there isn't a point to it, it's gonna seem gratuitous. And to everyone on the opposite side of the spectrum, don't feel like you have to kill off characters if it doesn't suit your story. You know your work better than everyone, and if it's not that kind of book, it's not that kind of book. Death scenes do not make you cooler than any other writer. It's just another plot point.
So that's all I've got for you today!
Not every death scene is going to trigger the waterworks, and that's okay. What's important is that your death scenes matter and they evoke the response you intended. Implement these 10 tips and you'll be on your way to killing off characters in style!
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