A Death to be Remembered

Just as death is a huge part of human life, death is one of the most important tools in a writer's arsenal. Death can be poignant, epic, sad, happy, climactic, anti-climactic, and everything in between, but most of all, death is strong. A message will resonate if accompanied by a death.

Now, death cannot be casually used. If readers feel that a death is mishandled, they could leave the story with a bad taste in their mouths. A meaningless death of a treasured character will leave your reading audience very unhappy.

For death to have an impact, you have to be connected with the one who died. Introduce a character and kill him off the next page. Who cares about him? But once the audience has gotten to know a character, really started to empathize with him/her, that's when it hurts. The bond with the character leads to grief for his/her death, and if well done, leads to strong storytelling.

Sometimes it's the shock of a sudden death that really hits the reader. An unexpected assassination, a sudden and fatal betrayal, will at first stun the reader, then get them searching through the following pages for answers.

Other times, it's the satisfaction of a death well spent: a sacrifice to hold off the enemies just long enough for allies to escape, or a last stand to decimate the enemy's army. If the character dies doing the right thing, it leaves the reader with a sort of melancholy happiness.

Dying the way the character always wanted to go out can leave the reader feeling satisfied too. A barbarian, convinced that the only way to go to Valhalla is to perish in combat, meets his demise battling to the death. A sailor, lover of his ship and the sea, dies happy along with his trusty vessel, sinking slowly to a watery grave.

Sometimes a poorly handled death can kill a story. I've read stories where the best character, the one that really makes the story work, dies halfway through the novel. The rest of the novel feels hollow and a lot less fun as a result.

A villain can go from unlikable cad to despicable devil by killing a character. Consider it a form of villain forming; nothing says evil like cold blood killing.

Death is a fundamental part of human life, and is also a core device in writing. Use it well and use it smartly, and it could transform your story.