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Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Do authors cry when they kill the best character?


That’s a question from a curious reader, as she calls herself, and I totally see her point. So let’s give an answer to this interesting question!

Let it out. Come on, share with me the truth. What? Do you hesitate? Well, I’ll go first, and if you have followed my blog, I’m sure you know the answer!


There are no tears for me.

On the contrary, there is a cunning smile and maybe some cheering. 

But I have to clarify something. For me, there is no such thing as “best character”. All the characters in my stories are my best characters. Either they’re good or bad, or annoying, they are my characters. So I can’t really pick a favorite.

When I write, I don’t have a plan. I follow the voices, giving them the lead and the ability to write their own story. So, when it comes to the point where a character dies … well, there isn’t really something I can do! It’s the way the story is developing. I’m there just to write it down.

I’d be lying though if I say that there isn’t a brief moment of sadness for the character that perished. Because we had fun together! But when a character dies another one is usually born so there is that!

Well, I try to make it pretty, but I’m not doing a good job, huh?

Alright, you got me! I kind of enjoy killing my characters!

Now you’d be wondering for what possible reason I would like that! It’s the thrill, the thought that you’re making the reader gasp, get mad or even smile. Everything comes down to the reader. When I read a book, I crave for the suspense, for the unexpected development, the difference that will amaze me. And honestly, what’s better than a character’s sudden death?

Robyn, a friend and a writer, had said she’ll read my books even if no one is standing at the end! Huge possibility! :)

Will you back me up? Please share your thoughts. 


8 comments:

  1. I cried. Once. But not when you think!
    (Yes, there are more.) Xo

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    1. You're cruel! Not even a tear for ... ?
      There are more, huh! I knew I could count on you!

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  2. For you Athina, it is true. I will venture into your world of dangerous unpredictability. I get attached to characters, the ones I create and the ones others create. I get mad when I lose them. Maybe it's too many hours of soap operas when I was a kid (Days of Our Lives), but a part of me always hopes the character will come back. They always come back in the soaps. I've killed characters that I absolutely loved and then when stories about them surface, that's when I really get emotional even though I'm writing the stuff.

    If not sad or bawling, do you crack yourself up? There are times when Maggie Lane says something that has me slapping my knee and telling my sister, "Maggie just said this..." I think we're a crazy bunch, Athina. Crazy!

    Great post, you character snuffer!

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    1. I blame the soap operas!:)

      Since I was a kid I used to watch adventure movies with my dad. So, the romance and girly ones were so not my style. I like watching them from time to time, but I get really happy and excited when I watch the other ones. So, I am more realistic. When someone's dead is dead, unless there is a really plausible explanation for him coming back. Then you have my attention!

      But I agree with you, Robyn! We are crazy. But our craziness is a perk!

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  3. I enjoy killing my characters, too, and just plain torturing them, to the point where I'll laugh while writing/drawing those scenes! Yeah, I'm evil... ;)

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    1. Hehe, you're kind of evil, but the good kind! lol

      Laughing when writing/drawing those scenes is a good thing! So, keep killing them!LOL

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  4. So have you ever killed a character and then after a few hours thought "there is no way they would go out like that" and then went back and changed how they died? Matt @ JC's Book Haven.

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    1. Hmmm, that's an interesting question. To be honest, It crossed y mind once, but I didn't change it. Killing him twice would somehow spoil it. They are real to me. And that's what amazes me in writing. :)

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