Opinions Please!

[rosalinda-143.livejournal.com]

So I can't decide on whether or not I want to kill off my main male character in the end of the book. I keep switching back and forth. Yes, I should because every book has a happy ending and it's getting a little old. No because Bree (my main female character) should have a chance at a happy ending after all she's been through.

If you need something to base your vote on you can go look at the summary of Shadow's Light.

I'm holding this poll because I want your opinions. Have you seen too much happying endings, That you're just so sick n' tiered of them? Or do you think that it would be stupid if I kill off my main character just because I don't want to be a stereotype 'oh this is going to have a happy ending anyway, so I'm not going to worry about this guy/girl dying' kind of book. Please tell me why you picked whatever in the comment box. Thanks!

[Poll #1465691]

Thanks again!

peace.love.happiness.

- Rosie

Comments

[sora-kainomori.livejournal.com]

Your blurb only mentions the guy once in the first paragraph, but I don't think it mentions him again. It's a bit all over the place, so I can't really tell how important this guy is to Bree. Does he save her from something or what? I'm a bit confused as to what his role is. So I guess once you can define his role, it'll be easier to determine whether the story can have a satisfying ending with his role removed.

[rosalinda-143.livejournal.com]

Okay, well they had a past... a very, very ugly romantic past. I don't want to reveal too much, but I'll tell you this, he plays a HUGE role in Bree's life and they do have more romanticly involved situations too so he is pretty big... okay, I'll release one spoiler: he proposes to her and they do get married. So now you see why I can't decide... maybe...

Hope that helps with the decision. Sorry if it doens't.

Thanks for voting anyway.

peace.love.happiness.

- Rosie

[sora-kainomori.livejournal.com]

Oh I see. I guess you should keep him alive, but it's a matter of having a satisfying ending or a happy ending. I guess it's a matter of how he dies. If he has a sickness or something, then I say he dies, that's more realistic unless there was something she could do to save him. If it's something like murder or an accident, you should probably keep him alive because killing him off through murder/accident is too complicated.

[rosalinda-143.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it.

BTW: love your icon!

peace.love.happiness.

- Rosie

[sora-kainomori.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I like your too. I kept watching the dancing person repeatedly. lol.

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

After investing time in a novel, a lot of folks would be angry to have a main character killed off.

Depends entirely on the situation.

If you're killing him just to kill him, because you don't want a happy ending, that's NOT a good enough reason.

The plot must dictate such an action. It must have purpose or it doesn't serve the story.

[skorpion-02.livejournal.com]

If you're going to kill him off, please do it with justice. Give your character an honorable exit, so your readers would feel for him and not hate you for killing off the main character.

[baka-kit.livejournal.com]

There's not anywhere NEAR enough information to know. Crafting a satisfying ending depends on everything that came before.

But one thing to keep in mind is that in fiction, deaths have to mean something. Real life can be tragically random, but if you try pulling that card in a novel, readers will hate you. I still haven't forgiven Jodi Picoult for the "twist" at the end of Her Sister's Keeper; I doubt I'll ever read another of her books because of it.

[jtucktattoo.livejournal.com]

I am all for killing characters. Unless you are writing a straight romance where the readers DEMAND a happy ending, then characters should suffer and everyone should be available to die.

[sirene-perdue.livejournal.com]

Wow, I like your summary a lot. Although as it had already been mentioned, it's not clear what role the guy plays in all this.
Now, to kill off, or not to kill off? Really, only you know. If the story demands it, then do, but not gratuitously. (I am in the same boat right now, debating if I should kill or let live one of the key characters at the end... I really want him to live, but I'm afraid the story demands that he doesn't :(((
Other than that, i see nothing wrong with sad/bittersweet endings... unless your audience is 5 years old they can handle it.

[nontu.livejournal.com]

I think you're going about this bass ackwards. Ignore what would make the reader happier. Ignore what would be fair to the character. There's only one important question here: what makes the better story?

[the-mome-wrath.livejournal.com]

If you're just going to kill him off to not have a happy ending then don't do it. That's not a good reason to kill off a main character. There are plenty other ways to avoid the stereotypical happy ending. You should only kill off main characters if the story truly calls for it, and it's difficult to pull off well. From the information given about your story, I can't really tell if the story really calls for it.

[scifiphan.livejournal.com]

You don't have to kill off the mains to avoid the stereotype. I just finished (reading, not writing) a great novel where at the end, the main characters were still alive, but a lot of questions - some of them rather central ones - didn't get answered.

At first I was irked and then I realized hey, he wrote it just like real life... you don't always go out knowing how and everything happened and why. But you just accept, be happy you got answers, and move on [hopefully to a sequel that answers the rest of those questions, 'cause even if it's real life I wanna know what happened dammit!!!! lol!]

[i-arr-pirate.livejournal.com]

Argh! I accidentally clicked 'yes' when I meant 'no'. D';

Everyone else's response is more factual, and mine's just pretty much an opinion as a reader. So you can probably just skip over this. x'D

If the girl has a bad past and it's REALLY emphasized throughout the book-- like, she keeps rejecting him the whole book until they finally get together and then he dies-- then I think it's best that you keep him alive. There's only so much bad that can happen to a person... it gets taxing if the ending is just as downtrodden as the main events. Honestly, I've had to put down a book or two because of this.

However, if the bad past isn't really insisted upon (just more of a 'background/general' thing) then it shouldn't be too bad to kill off your character.

I pretty much agree with everyone else on the fact that it's not so much as happy/sad endings, more of the fact that it's tasteful and satisfying. Don't try to make a puzzle piece fit where it shouldn't go, y'know? C: