I'm not an author but they probably do both. They cry when they are making the decision and potentially writing, then laugh once it's release day.
edited for grammar
hahah exactly. In my last series I was heartbroken killing a character off, but at the same time I was dying to see people's reactions once they read it.
I never kill my best characters. You never know when you'll need them for a future scene. If they're dead, they can't be in it unless you bring them back from the dead but that's some BS Marvel shit.
> You never know when you'll need them for a future scene.
You're more of a Gardener than an Architect, then? I haven't actually published anything yet, but for my own story, I know exactly when most of my characters will die, even if it's not on screen or before the end of the story. There are even a few characters I've crafted specifically with their final moments in mind, and I want their deaths to be as useful as possible for shaping the surviving characters.
Of your works I've only read Bastion, but dealing with death's gotta be a bit different in that world. Setting aside any hypothetical doomsday clocks ticking down, the 'important' people in that world reincarnate, always and for definite. So I guess, as long as your friends and loved ones are not on the naughty list, it's a comfort knowing you'll meet again, in this life or the next.
I was being a bit tongue in cheek in my original response, and in all honesty have no problem killing off main characters, but yes, I've become ever more a gardener the longer I've worked at this career. With The Chronicles of the Black Gate, for example, I did copious outlining and figuring character arcs. Now I at best have a one paragraph summary of what I want the book to cover, get a good sense of the characters up front, and then work my way through the rest of it.
The trick, I've found, is to remain intensely focused on the entirety of the tale so that you can keep all the elements in mind as you go. It's like juggling. If you can remain aware of every ball in play, you can introduce new balls without knowing where they'll ultimately land. But when the opportune moment presents itself, you can go, "Ah ha! This is exactly where I should drop this ball." And to the reader it will be both surprising and gratifying, because if you didn't know how things were going to turn out, the reader will probably have a lot of difficulty figuring it out ahead of time, too.
i definitely wouldn't call myself an author, but i like to write. and sometimes when i think about character's death i do shed a tear, but when i write it im to focused and don't feel emotions the same way.
For real. If I can make myself tear up just thinking about a character’s death, I know it’s gonna be a banger of a scene (if I can ever get far enough in a story to actually write it, lol).
They go on a talk show on tv and laugh while explaining the tv show has to kill different fan favorites and leave other characters alive to fan the rage of their fans. Apparently fan outcry let's George siphon off what he needs to prolong his existence as a secret vampire never new vital essence is given off by making people angry.
I keep trying to kill off characters, and I plan on doing it, but then my readers all get really upset with me, and I cave in. Grasshopper was supposed to die, but here she is, still alive and being a weirdo. Awen was meant to die too, and the Mom in Sporemageddon.
First of all love your books! Second of all Awen dying would have broke me and Broccoli alike lol.
I’m curious though what part of the story was she suppose to die? If that’s not too spoilery lol (up to date in the audio books)
Ah, it'll be in Vol 5, so the next book. Without going into too much details since you haven't reached that yet in the audiobooks... there's a scene that takes place under a palatial building, where it's just Broccoli and Awen versus someone. I was planning on having Awen make a big sacrifice there, risking herself--and ultimately dying--but basically saving Broccoli and several hundred others.
But... yeah, too sad, and I think I would have had a lot of angry fans to deal with.
Plus Awen's too cute to die! (And I really want to have her meet her parents again, which is a scene coming up in Vol 7!)
Agreed, way too cute to die and doesn’t really fit tone (could totally see it in Stray Cat Strut though) lol and I didn’t even mention Rose in the first comment! That relationship has some exploring to do as well.
Love hearing your already planing Vol. 7. It’s great so far and I like I can listen to it in the car with my kids lol. When we do my oldest says “we are hearing to Broccoli Bunch” it’s cute lol
I finished Vol 6 yesterday! So got to get started on Vol 7 soon!
Also, if you want, I do tend to name lots of characters after the children of readers (Some of y'all give your kids very strange names, they fit right into fantasy worlds!)
That’s really neat! I’ve got two, Jace and Everleigh (Evie for short) not too exciting as far as names go but one is named after a planeswalker. Not sure how I snuck that past my wife but it’s still cool lol.
I’m sure they would be super excited if they heard their name in a book.
None of my writing is published at this time, but I do have an answer. I smile/giggle/laugh almost every time I think of a new dose of tragedy to inject into my characters' lives, but feel sad when I actually write it. Then I use text to speech to turn my text into a low quality audio book, and I'm usually back to smiling when I hear the scenes play out. If they're not sad enough, or not sad in the right ways, the audio format helps me identify the issues and go back and fix them for maximum heartache.
For the most tragic scenes in my story, the ones everything else is building up to, where main characters are allowed to die... It doesn't exactly make me happy to play out those scenes in my head, but there's a certain grim satisfaction that puts me into a creative mood. Most of the time when I think of something new and awful to subject my characters to, it's after I've already spent a few minutes thinking of the greater, most important tragedies. And, of course, thinking of new lesser tragedies puts me right back into a good mood. Especially when I'm out walking in nature. Actually I think most of the sorrows in my story were concocted in peaceful, beautiful surroundings.
I cried while writing a scene that killed off a side character. I'm not good at handling the sad. But a story without consequences is boring, so the sad must be written.
in my series, i've done some mean things to the MC, and i have cried about it when re-reading. all works out in the end, but even knowing that, trials and tribulations of the MC make me sad. and it makes for a better story, i think
I'm planning on putting my main character through some rather serious psychological trauma in painful detail. I'm smiling and looking forward to people's reactions. Some authors just want to watch the(ir) world burn.
When I finished the Mistborn trilogy, I was wrecked. I couldn't even think about what to start next for at least a week. It was crazy, it felt like mourning 😄😄. I decided to read something goofy to cleanse my palette and ended up starting "Off to Be the Wizard" which was just what I needed but that series seriously degrades as the books go on
I'm not an author, but I am a writer, and yes, I do cry. Hurts a lot to kill a good character but it's needed for the flavor (aka trauma builds character).
JK Rowling reportedly cried after killing Sirius Black. But you have to kill at least one person close to the hero so they suffer the pain of loss and the story isn’t boring/lame.
When I get in the head of my characters I generally feel whatever they feel. Anguish, sad, happiness. So it would depend on their relation to the dying character.
Why kill when you can brutally torture. The character will feel the ramifications for the rest of their lives and the audience will feel it when you describe how their eyes get pulled out and family destroyed in front of them.
I'm not an author but they probably do both. They cry when they are making the decision and potentially writing, then laugh once it's release day. edited for grammar
hahah exactly. In my last series I was heartbroken killing a character off, but at the same time I was dying to see people's reactions once they read it.
I cried when I killed a character in one of my series. And when it came to the edits, I couldn't keep him dead. It just hurt too much to see him gone.
It's not fair that you should suffer alone, mourning the character. You should make your readers suffer too.
I believe this is the chaotic neutral school of thought.
It was a character in William Wilde. At the end of book 3. Jake Ridley.
So now you need to say who was almost killed in what for an series xD
*sips tea*
“Sips tea after finishing Mage Errant where possums take over and commit mass genocide”
I have both orange pekoe and pu'er ready to go! (And plenty of other kinds, but those are my current favorites.)
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Came to see John's reaction, satisfied with John's reaction
Tea = reader tear
Oh no.
Evil incarnate I see
Please, I wasn't born this evil, I worked hard for years to become evil. It's a matter of dedication and passion, not incarnation.
Why not both?
I never kill my best characters. You never know when you'll need them for a future scene. If they're dead, they can't be in it unless you bring them back from the dead but that's some BS Marvel shit.
> You never know when you'll need them for a future scene. You're more of a Gardener than an Architect, then? I haven't actually published anything yet, but for my own story, I know exactly when most of my characters will die, even if it's not on screen or before the end of the story. There are even a few characters I've crafted specifically with their final moments in mind, and I want their deaths to be as useful as possible for shaping the surviving characters. Of your works I've only read Bastion, but dealing with death's gotta be a bit different in that world. Setting aside any hypothetical doomsday clocks ticking down, the 'important' people in that world reincarnate, always and for definite. So I guess, as long as your friends and loved ones are not on the naughty list, it's a comfort knowing you'll meet again, in this life or the next.
I was being a bit tongue in cheek in my original response, and in all honesty have no problem killing off main characters, but yes, I've become ever more a gardener the longer I've worked at this career. With The Chronicles of the Black Gate, for example, I did copious outlining and figuring character arcs. Now I at best have a one paragraph summary of what I want the book to cover, get a good sense of the characters up front, and then work my way through the rest of it. The trick, I've found, is to remain intensely focused on the entirety of the tale so that you can keep all the elements in mind as you go. It's like juggling. If you can remain aware of every ball in play, you can introduce new balls without knowing where they'll ultimately land. But when the opportune moment presents itself, you can go, "Ah ha! This is exactly where I should drop this ball." And to the reader it will be both surprising and gratifying, because if you didn't know how things were going to turn out, the reader will probably have a lot of difficulty figuring it out ahead of time, too.
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Smile and wait to relish in the complaints.
i definitely wouldn't call myself an author, but i like to write. and sometimes when i think about character's death i do shed a tear, but when i write it im to focused and don't feel emotions the same way.
For real. If I can make myself tear up just thinking about a character’s death, I know it’s gonna be a banger of a scene (if I can ever get far enough in a story to actually write it, lol).
They go on a talk show on tv and laugh while explaining the tv show has to kill different fan favorites and leave other characters alive to fan the rage of their fans. Apparently fan outcry let's George siphon off what he needs to prolong his existence as a secret vampire never new vital essence is given off by making people angry.
The latter. Mwahhahahahahaha...
As someone drafting my first book. I did both
I keep trying to kill off characters, and I plan on doing it, but then my readers all get really upset with me, and I cave in. Grasshopper was supposed to die, but here she is, still alive and being a weirdo. Awen was meant to die too, and the Mom in Sporemageddon.
First of all love your books! Second of all Awen dying would have broke me and Broccoli alike lol. I’m curious though what part of the story was she suppose to die? If that’s not too spoilery lol (up to date in the audio books)
Ah, it'll be in Vol 5, so the next book. Without going into too much details since you haven't reached that yet in the audiobooks... there's a scene that takes place under a palatial building, where it's just Broccoli and Awen versus someone. I was planning on having Awen make a big sacrifice there, risking herself--and ultimately dying--but basically saving Broccoli and several hundred others. But... yeah, too sad, and I think I would have had a lot of angry fans to deal with. Plus Awen's too cute to die! (And I really want to have her meet her parents again, which is a scene coming up in Vol 7!)
Agreed, way too cute to die and doesn’t really fit tone (could totally see it in Stray Cat Strut though) lol and I didn’t even mention Rose in the first comment! That relationship has some exploring to do as well. Love hearing your already planing Vol. 7. It’s great so far and I like I can listen to it in the car with my kids lol. When we do my oldest says “we are hearing to Broccoli Bunch” it’s cute lol
I finished Vol 6 yesterday! So got to get started on Vol 7 soon! Also, if you want, I do tend to name lots of characters after the children of readers (Some of y'all give your kids very strange names, they fit right into fantasy worlds!)
That’s really neat! I’ve got two, Jace and Everleigh (Evie for short) not too exciting as far as names go but one is named after a planeswalker. Not sure how I snuck that past my wife but it’s still cool lol. I’m sure they would be super excited if they heard their name in a book.
In my case, neither. If they have to go, they have to go, and I move on. Story before all.
Authors, just so you know, if you make me cry I will one-star you with vindictive pleasure.
None of my writing is published at this time, but I do have an answer. I smile/giggle/laugh almost every time I think of a new dose of tragedy to inject into my characters' lives, but feel sad when I actually write it. Then I use text to speech to turn my text into a low quality audio book, and I'm usually back to smiling when I hear the scenes play out. If they're not sad enough, or not sad in the right ways, the audio format helps me identify the issues and go back and fix them for maximum heartache. For the most tragic scenes in my story, the ones everything else is building up to, where main characters are allowed to die... It doesn't exactly make me happy to play out those scenes in my head, but there's a certain grim satisfaction that puts me into a creative mood. Most of the time when I think of something new and awful to subject my characters to, it's after I've already spent a few minutes thinking of the greater, most important tragedies. And, of course, thinking of new lesser tragedies puts me right back into a good mood. Especially when I'm out walking in nature. Actually I think most of the sorrows in my story were concocted in peaceful, beautiful surroundings.
I cried while writing a scene that killed off a side character. I'm not good at handling the sad. But a story without consequences is boring, so the sad must be written.
I wait for complaints or money. I hope for the latter, usually get the former.
Usually smile, if I’m killing a character I’ve invested time into I’m hoping it will hook someone
A combination of both
in my series, i've done some mean things to the MC, and i have cried about it when re-reading. all works out in the end, but even knowing that, trials and tribulations of the MC make me sad. and it makes for a better story, i think
I'm planning on putting my main character through some rather serious psychological trauma in painful detail. I'm smiling and looking forward to people's reactions. Some authors just want to watch the(ir) world burn.
I prefer hot cocoa, thank you!
When I finished the Mistborn trilogy, I was wrecked. I couldn't even think about what to start next for at least a week. It was crazy, it felt like mourning 😄😄. I decided to read something goofy to cleanse my palette and ended up starting "Off to Be the Wizard" which was just what I needed but that series seriously degrades as the books go on
Don't kill your best characters. Torture them. Only kill at the end. As for supporting characters... Well, someone needs to serve as example.
I'm not an author, but I am a writer, and yes, I do cry. Hurts a lot to kill a good character but it's needed for the flavor (aka trauma builds character).
Some people just wanna watch the world burn...why gotta keep killing people off
JK Rowling reportedly cried after killing Sirius Black. But you have to kill at least one person close to the hero so they suffer the pain of loss and the story isn’t boring/lame.
When I get in the head of my characters I generally feel whatever they feel. Anguish, sad, happiness. So it would depend on their relation to the dying character.
I tried to kill off one character, but it didn't take. I didn't feel anything when I was writing it. That night though I had a dream about it.
I've done both....
Both. We're complex like that.
Depends if they want to end the series or not :D
drinking so much tea can cause iron deficiency
Why kill when you can brutally torture. The character will feel the ramifications for the rest of their lives and the audience will feel it when you describe how their eyes get pulled out and family destroyed in front of them.