Welcome to 40 Days of 3 Questions!
For the next few weeks, meet here every morning with a notebook or document to answer three questions about writing, about your status quo as a writer, or about the writing life. You can answer briefly and go about your day, or you can use this as a warm up exercise before your regular writing schedule. Whatever works for you, works for me.
Day 32 Questions:
- Apart from your protagonist, could you kill off every other character in your current project?
- If you had to do a Game of Thrones type slaughter, which killed-off character would most hurt you?
- Which killed-off character do you think would most hurt your readers?
You may post answers in comments or keep your thoughts private–your choice!
And here is today’s pretty picture:
Ramona DeFelice Long 
For starters, I’ve never seen Game of Thorns, so I’m only guessing the type of character massacre you reference. COULD I kill off all my characters? Of course. The pen is mightier than the sword, right? But WOULD I? Never. My readers are so invested in them (at least that’s what they keep telling me), I fear my career would be over. Originally, Harry Adams was supposed to die at the end of Lost Legacy, but well before I wrote the scene, I could tell from the way my early readers were responding to him that that would be a really bad idea. As for which character would most hurt me personally? Any of them. That’s a tough question, Ramona. I’ll have to ponder it a while. (But I will say I made myself half sick with grief killing off the villain in the book I finished at our retreat in December!)
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I’m not sure I’d have a problem with killing a character if it made sense to the storyline. I’ve never seen Game of Thrones, but the character that would hurt me the most would be the sheriff of the town. I think, along with my protagonist, I’m a little in love with him. I believe the character death that would most upset a reader would be if I were to kill the protagonist’s husband. But there’s no way that’s ever going to happen.
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Wow. I suppose I could kill off a character if the story demanded but it would involve a lot of angst. I would hate to kill off police lieutenant Buck Bird in the Country Store series, or Bertie Winslow in the Quaker Midwife books, and never the romantic lead. I have had regular characters go away for a book but they come back.
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Apart from your protagonist, could you kill off every other character in your current project? If you forced me to; or more accurately, if the story forced me to. (I count Sally as one of my protagonists.)
If you had to do a Game of Thrones type slaughter, which killed-off character would most hurt you? Without a doubt, Tom Burns, my deputy coroner.
Which killed-off character do you think would most hurt your readers? Secondary character? I’d have to say Burns, or maybe Aislyn McAllister.
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1. Apart from your protagonist, could you kill off every other character in your current project?
You mean kill every single one of them? That would be a thriller, I think, so no. I don’t write those. Anyway, if everyone else died, my protagonist would probably then be the killer, right?
2. If you had to do a Game of Thrones type slaughter, which killed-off character would most hurt you?
I should say my MC’s trusty sidekick, but I think I most like a minor character I added as an afterthought, Mrs. Gerg. I’ve grown to love her. I mean the cat, then Mrs. Gerg.
3. Which killed-off character do you think would most hurt your readers?
This WIP is the second in a series that hasn’t debuted yet, so I have no idea if readers will like any of it yet.
Where do I get the toothpick holder? You realize, we DO get to pinch him. He’s not wearing green.
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Kill off all of them? No way. What would most hurt me would be killing the female detective who is a sort of mother-sub for the MC. Hurt the reader” So far, my critique group is invested in the divorced Statie. He needs mothering.
Where can I get the toothpick holder that can be used like a Voo-doo doll? Love it
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Apart from your protagonist, could you kill off every other character in your current project? I suppose, but I’d have to come up with some new characters.
If you had to do a Game of Thrones type slaughter, which killed-off character would most hurt you? I don’t know anything about Game of Thrones.
Which killed-off character do you think would most hurt your readers? I don’t know. I don’t know my characters well enough, but a tentative guess might be Stephen. He’s the immature son. I’m hoping that readers will want him to succeed and grow up. Or there is the bad guy, Miguel, who is giving me problems already because he’s turning out to be much nicer than he should be for a bad guy. Readers might very well start rooting for him and that can’t do at all! So, if either of them die they won’t be able to reach their potential.
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1. Aside from your protagonist, could you kill off every other character in your current project? Absolutely not. For instance, I’m too fond of the troublesome daughter even with her annoying perfectionism. Some of the other characters are unpleasantly flawed, but I’d miss them, especially the dog. ..
2. If you had to do a Game of Thrones type slaughter, which killed-off character would most hurt you? Like some others have noted, I’m not a Game of Thrones’ fan.
3. Which killed-off character do you think would most hurt your readers? The daughter or the retired football player who could turn out to be the protagonist’s new love, if he’s not the murderer, that is. .
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