It’s a tricky predicament for a novelist. Having created many characters that readers genuinely seem to like and in some cases adore, I put a lot of thought into when I have to “off” someone.
Is it right for the plot?
Does it help the protagonist in a major way move forward?
Will there be repercussions?
How will I allow the protagonist to deal with it?
Become more vulnerable or less?
Be vengeful and develop new mad skills or go on a downward spiral?
These are just some of the issues that I deal with when contemplating such scholarly homicide.
Does it help the protagonist in a major way move forward?
Will there be repercussions?
How will I allow the protagonist to deal with it?
Become more vulnerable or less?
Be vengeful and develop new mad skills or go on a downward spiral?
These are just some of the issues that I deal with when contemplating such scholarly homicide.
Each aspect is mentally weighed and measured, to make sure that story is compelling and adds to the overall novel. As these questions and a host of others are eventually sorted through, I am left with the end result.
Somebody has got to go.
I send out the type-set hit squad and that’s it, the end. The fictional population is down by one.
I’ve gotten a few questions, about some of the people that I've given the ax to in my novels, from readers who didn’t want them to die. Requesting a literary resurrection, if you will.
I understand your attachment, perhaps better than you realize. While you have read and gotten to know them in adventure after adventure... some readers identify with the characters like they would a friend -- I gave birth to them, at least artistically speaking. I know what they look like, how they sound and when they’re happy or horrified. And ultimately, I’m with them, in their heads in many cases writing their thoughts, as they draw their last breath.
Killing a character is never easy.
Fortunately, my characters reside in a magical landscape where anything is possible, and while I don’t guarantee that someone I have killed off will suddenly reappear in the pages of one of my future books -- sometimes characters are too damn stubborn to stay dead and find a way back.
Such is life in a supernatural universe.
Happy Reading,
Somebody has got to go.
I send out the type-set hit squad and that’s it, the end. The fictional population is down by one.
I’ve gotten a few questions, about some of the people that I've given the ax to in my novels, from readers who didn’t want them to die. Requesting a literary resurrection, if you will.
I understand your attachment, perhaps better than you realize. While you have read and gotten to know them in adventure after adventure... some readers identify with the characters like they would a friend -- I gave birth to them, at least artistically speaking. I know what they look like, how they sound and when they’re happy or horrified. And ultimately, I’m with them, in their heads in many cases writing their thoughts, as they draw their last breath.
Killing a character is never easy.
Fortunately, my characters reside in a magical landscape where anything is possible, and while I don’t guarantee that someone I have killed off will suddenly reappear in the pages of one of my future books -- sometimes characters are too damn stubborn to stay dead and find a way back.
Such is life in a supernatural universe.
Happy Reading,
P.S. Meraux
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