Killing off protagonists?

[beres-ford.livejournal.com]

Hello. :D

I have a quick question, which I suppose is debatable because...well I've been debating for weeks over it.

Should protagonists be killed off?

I have one particular protagonist (there's more than one) in a story I've been writing for almost a year and as the storys developed I've come up with so many different endings for it. And one of which includes this character dying.

Another is that this character dies and then comes back to life, but that's been used so much that I'm wondering if it'd be better if they just stayed dead.

Should I kill off my protagonist?

Comments

[thebonedawg.livejournal.com]

I agree with the others: only kill them off if it is crucial to the story. If you're killing them off just to say you killed them off, then no, don't do it. There needs to be a good reason for doing so.

I started my novel knowing full well that my MCs wouldn't be killed off. But as I write more and more and near the end of my novel, the evil writer on my shoulder is saying "Do it! Do it!" and I just try to ignore her...or else fling her off my shoulder entirely. I know I won't actually do it, but the possibility has been lingering on the back burner.

I actually wrote out an "alternate ending" just to try and get that desire out of my system. It helped too. I was able to write the dramatic and tragic ending but it won't be part of my novel.

[beres-ford.livejournal.com]

Actually that's a really good idea about writing an alernate scene! I think I may well try that! :D It really would get it all out of my head!

We're having trouble deciding about another topic to do with the story as well, but although I tihnk we've finally cracked that one, I may well do the same thing for that one.

[thebonedawg.livejournal.com]

Glad I could help. =D I think the "alternate" scenes not only help get those writing urges out of your system, but they also allow you to see another side to your characters. If you put them into situations you don't actually want in the novel, you will still see how they will react in those situations and it will help you better understand them as characters. And that's always a good thing.