Aug. 18th, 2010

Oh death.

Aug. 18th, 2010 12:28 pm
nilchance: text: 'things to do today: get up, survive, go back to bed' (survival)
24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What's the most interesting way you've killed someone?

I'm willing if it's worth my time, but honestly, I used to be more enthusiastic. I thought that to be a "real" writer, to write anything of literary worth, I had to kill my characters to make an impact. I fridged a lot of females in my writing, and there was a good deal of "rocks fall, everyone dies", because True Art Was Like That.

I'm burned out on the downer ending this year. Maybe it's because Mom died, or maybe I just read too many stories where the death count was sky-high. I don't know. I do know that I'm tired of reading an ending where my favorite character bites it. I'm tired of counting the dead fridged women and being told that, well, white men die too! (Not in such a sexualized way; not for nothing.) I'm just really tired of death becoming the only meaningful end to a story arc, and the perception that a hopeful end is a cop-out. Sometimes you live and that's harder. Sometimes you keep going, with your scars and your disability and your nightmares. Death is neater, but I want more messy endings.

As for interesting deaths: I've had a decapitation?

Profile

nilchance: original art from a vintage print; art of a woman being struck by lightning (Default)
nilchance

March 2026

S M T W T F S
1234567
891011121314
151617181920 21
22232425262728
293031    

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated May. 20th, 2026 01:49 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios