A friend of mine posted something on my Facebook wall that got me thinking. It was a little poster that said "I ask myself 'What is the worst thing I can do to a character?' and then I do it." I jokingly said that it was my motto, and then I realized something. It really was. I tend to terrorize my characters, and when I feel like it, I'll kill them off without warning. I've held back while writing Accidental Demon Slayers, but am I hurting myself by doing this? In the past, my stories would off major characters left and right. In my mind, no character should ever be safe.
Now, obviously this is not a hard and fast rule. It depends on the story you are trying to tell. If I'm writing something that I want to be sweet and romantic I'm not going to just randomly drop a piano on the romantic interest just to shake things up... or maybe I would. Hmm... Anyways, the point I'm trying to make is this, if you are writing a story where death is a regular feature, then you should never be afraid of killing off a major character.
A perfect example of shooting yourself in the foot by playing it safe is the Scream franchise. The first two films took major risks in choosing which characters to bump off. Randy's death scene in Scream 2 is a shocking and horrific moment. Yes, fans reacted horribly to the scene. They were horrified and saddened by a popular characters death. Yet, the reacted. That's the point. His death scene created a very real, very emotional reaction in the viewers. Instead of pushing forward, and throwing the rules to the wind, the creators of the series pulled back. Fans freaked, and the creators got scared. By Scream 4 a formula was so firmly in place that the series lacked suspense. Of course the core three characters would make it out alive. Sure, they would be worse for wear, but they would walk away, ready to star in the next chapter. By not taking risks, and by making certain characters safe in a world where any character is supposed to be on the chopping block, the series becomes dull. Why bother watching if you already know the outcome?
Series like Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead understand the importance of taking risks when it comes to characters lives. The best way to keep a viewer, or a reader, engaged is to keep them on the edge of their seat. Sure, Rick may not be buying the farm any time soon, but the idea isn't really all that out there. Andrea is a long running character in the comic book, but she didn't make it past season three on the TV show.
There is another reason I'm writing this post. While working on Daughter of Darkness, I struggled with the idea of killing of a main character. A big part of me really didn't want to, and I avoided it as long as I could, but as the story moved along, and that moment came closer and closer, I realized that I had to do what was best for the story, no matter how much it hurt. The world of Accidental Demon Slayers is one where characters are killed, usually in brutal fashion, on a regular basis, and by saying that this group of characters is exempt from that rule effectively makes the character work outside of the rules of the story. I was trying to force the story to go one way, while the story itself was going in the opposite direction. In the end I realized that the character in question really was there for this moment. They had no real future in the story, and most likely would have just faded into the background. By writing their death scene I gave the character a purpose.
There is a reverse to this as well. Sometimes I can get a little "kill" happy. Anyone who has read any of my horror scripts can attest to this. I would kill characters off just for the hell of it. There was no real reason behind it, and it hardly ever served the story. Actually, it would end up hurting the story. You can't really force shock. You can sure as hell try, but if it doesn't have a purpose you can end up forcing your story right into a corner, and find yourself having to start over because you just removed a key part of your story that was required for everything to come together later on. I've done this more times then I can count.
Anyone who writes can tell you that a story tends to take on a life of it's own, and when you fight against it, try to force it's direction no matter how clear it is that your path is the wrong path, the story will fall apart. Let the story develop and, in a way, tell itself. Yes, these scenes are there to create a reaction in the reader, but more importantly they should be there because the story requires it. Maybe killing off a main character will shift the stories perspective to someone else. Maybe it's that catalyst that pushes the other characters to act. Maybe it's that moment that forces the other characters to examine their selves, and their journey, and push the story into a whole different direction. You cannot be afraid to take those risks.
Going back to my earlier post about my time in the Columbia Fiction Writing Department, one of the school mantras was "don't censor yourself." Most of the students (myself included) took this as an order to be tasteless and out there and shocking. The more I think of it, the more I realize that I had misinterpreted the true intention of that mantra. The word censor instantly makes one think of graphic, or inflammatory content. The true meaning of it was to not be afraid to take risks. Don't hold back out of fear of what others might think, but instead go forward and trust that they will understand. They may not always like it, but if it truly fits with the story, then they will accept it.
As I learn to apply that rule to my own writing I have learned to take joy in hearing people tell me they were upset by a characters death. That tells me two things. First is that the character is effective enough that their demise has an effect on the reader, and second is that I am keeping the reader engaged by going against their expectations while still developing the story.
So, the lesson here is to take risks. Playing it safe with your story, and with your characters will only rob your story of potential impact. Taking a risk does not mean being shocking and vulgar for the sake of being shocking and vulgar, but instead with allowing yourself to let the story grow on it's own, and naturally form into what it needs to be, not what you initially planned it to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment