Fic Talk > General Discussion
Even newer questions to ponder
julilly:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on December 12, 2017, 05:01:01 PM ---Let's talk about killing people!
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Only on this forum would that be a totally normal topic of discussion lol
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: julilly on December 14, 2017, 07:22:00 PM ---Only on this forum would that be a totally normal topic of discussion lol
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LOL So true.
MaggieW:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on December 12, 2017, 05:01:01 PM ---Let's talk about killing people! Characters, I mean. I'm still upset about a certain character getting killed off a certain show the other day and trying to understand that decision from a writing standpoint, so let's talk about killing characters in fanfic.
Do you shy away from killing off characters, or are you cool with it? If you're cool with killing, does that include killing Backstreet Boys (or the main characters in whatever fandom you're writing in)?
What factors in to your decision to let a character live or die?
Have you ever regretted killing (or not killing) a character?
What has been the hardest character death for you to write?
As a reader, what was most shocking or devastating death you've read in someone else's story?
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I'm okay with it, depending. Look at my BSB "Blackmailed" and "Nothing Gold Can Stay". I had other stories, way back in my early fanfic days, that had one of the Boys dying (most likely Brian), but I refuse to do that again. Now, I'll come pretty close to them dying - again, look at Blackmailed and its sequel. And I'm considering killing a character I created for those stories, but I might not. I hate killing off favorites and darlings. I guess that's why I tend to stay away from reading stories here on AC that have death listed in them. Go figure...
And yet I'm going to have deaths in the last Blackmailed sequel I'm working on, and in the BSB werewolf hunter story I'm planning. How does that work? Maybe it's just because I struggle with creating really strong, fleshed out characters.
RokofAges75:
I'm not afraid of killing characters, including the Boys. I might even enjoy killing the Boys, judging by how every novel I've finished (by myself) in the last decade has ended. Jeez... I have a problem. LOL
As far as the decision to let a character live or die goes, I just try to do what makes the most sense and feels right. Sometimes characters deserve to have a happy endings, and sometimes stories just feel more like tragedies that need to end tragically.
I've never regretted killing a character, but I have regretted the way I've done it. Tracy mentioned Sick as My Secrets (thanks, Tracy), and that's actually the one I have regrets about. I had a plan for how it was going to happen and then changed my mind a few days before I wrote it, and now I think I should have stuck to my original plan. It was going to be a lot less dramatic originally, but that was the point. I just can't resist the drama.
The hardest character death for me to write was probably in Curtain Call. I had a work friend who was dying of cancer at the time, so it hit close to home, but I also think writing that story at that time also helped me deal with my emotions about what was happening to her.
The most devastating death I've read in someone else's story was probably in Swollen Issues III. Even though it was the most believable ending and was probably inevitable, I wasn't necessarily expecting it when it happened, and it was so very sad. The most shocking was probably in an old suspense story called Scared of Reality because one of the Boys was killed in the middle of the story, which doesn't usually happen. But I think that's one of the things that made that story great, and it's one of the reasons I love The Walking Dead, too, even when they kill characters I love. It's more exciting when you have the feeling that no one is safe.
RokofAges75:
Is anyone else super indecisive when it comes to writing? I'm usually not, but I just started a new story, and I have been having so much trouble making up my mind about basic things, like a title and events. I feel like I have a solid premise and some good character development going for me (and I do have set names for the original ones, which is usually something I get hung up on), but everything else I keep changing my mind about. I wrote two whole chapters of the story, then completely scrapped them and started the whole thing over, and I've made at least five different banners with different titles. I haven't even attempted to write a summary yet, but I feel like that may be a challenge for me too. Is this a bad sign that my story may be doomed from the start? LOL
What do you usually struggle with most in the early stages of planning/starting a new story? What's the hardest decision you've had to make for a story?
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