How to Make a Character's Death Sadder - Special Post for Creative Writers #32

Image source: Here and Now

• Avoid having them die of old age, especially if they had a long and successful life. Many people don't even think this is sad.

• Make sure you leave at least one of their goals in life unfinished. Make them desperate to complete a goal before they die and the death is that much sadder.

• Create strong relationships with your other characters. They might have a lover or strong family connections. You can the milk those characters for sadness.

• Make them battle with whatever is causing their death. It's sadder when they lose the battle.

• Wipe them out in the middle of their character arc, perhaps just as they are transforming into a nicer person.

• Never describe their funeral in detail. Make it an occasion for other characters to be upset about the death.

This is #32 in my series of articles to save time for creative writers. I hope these ideas save you time.

I am a native English speaker, primary school teacher and adult trainer. I am qualified to teach English Literature and Creative Writing in the UK as part of the national curriculum.

Previous posts can be found here:

#1 Words You Could Use to Replace Go, Went or Walk
#2 Words You Could Use to Replace Go, Went or Walk continued
#3 Alternatives to 'Bad'
#4 Alternatives to 'Good'
#5 Eye Colours
#6 Tone Vocabulary List
#7 Emotions > Body Language Part 1
#8 Emotions > Body Language Part 2
#9 Emotions > Body Language Part 3
#10 Emotions > Body Language Part 4
#11 Describing Hair Colours
#12 Emotions > Body Language - Part 5
#13 Emotions > Body Language - Part 6
#14 Emotions > Body Language - Part 7
#15 Fighting Words
#16 Preposition Check List
#17 Comma Rules
#18 Describing Someone's Voice - Part 1
#19 Describing Someone's Voice - Part 2
#20 Describing Someone's Voice - Part 3
#21 Describing Someone's Voice - Part 4
#22 Describing Someone's Voice - Part 5
#23 Ways to Say 'Looks/Seems Like'
#24 Ways to Say 'Say' - Part 1
#25 Ways to Say 'Say' - Part 2
#26 Ways to Say 'Says' - Part 3
#27 Ways to Say 'Says' - Part 4
#28 Words to Describe Sounds - Part 1
#29 Words to Describe Sounds - Part 2
#30 Negative Character Traits - Part 1
#31 Negative Character Traits - Part 2

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