30 Days Writing Meme -- Question Twenty Four

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 trying to remember if I've killed anyone, let alone in an interesting way. Bad guys and the poor unsuspecting vic in crime/whodunnit stories count, right?

Uh...possible spoilers ahead, then, I guess? *laughs* Human Nature and Afterthought specifically.

Bad guys variously torn apart and gnawed on in Human Nature (demons and werewolves, can't take 'em anywhere...) probably isn't particularly interesting for the genre. Just your usual injuries/deaths of the `caused by supernatural creatures who're intensely pissed off right now` variety. But like I said in an earlier question, the threat posed by the bad guys -- and, by dint, the ease of their demise -- wasn't as important as what happens during the fight, and how it changes all three main characters. It's humans vs. supernatural beings, you know they're going to win; the question is really how it affects them.

I guess Marcus from Afterthought was more interesting, seeing as he dies twice. *g* It was fun playing with the concept of powerful telepaths being able to separate their consciousness from the physical body.

In terms of the main characters, or important non-villainy secondary characters being killed off if the story calls for it... Well, it's never happened, but that's probably got more to do with the kind of stories I write (in that they don't call for it, more often than not) than a conscious choice. Sometimes, killing off the well-loved sidekick or funny secondary character comes across as little more than jerking the reader/audience around for gratuitous emotional kicks when the rest of the emotional investment in the story is weak, and I'm not too keen on shortcuts like that. There's an occupant of WIP Hell in which an important catalyst character is already dead before the story itself starts, though since he's not technically killed off during the course of the book, he probably doesn't count. Ultimately, if the story called for it, I'd kill off a major character, but I doubt I'd be happy about it.

Also (apologies to non-UK readers who won't know wtf I'm talking about) this post is also brought to you courtesy of the conclusion of "Ashes to Ashes" last week, so killing off characters -- even if they're already dead -- is kinda at the forefront of my mind. I'd rant about it, but honestly I'm still a little brainfried...