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Post by limebirdmike on Dec 4, 2011 12:17:01 GMT
Ok team, I have something of a conundrum so I thought I'd put it all out there for you to discuss!
I'm (finally) nearing the very end of my book and I'm wondering if I should let my main character die. Technically speaking, she was already dead, and has returned as an avatar of the earth to help save the world from certain doom. [This is teen heroic fantasy btw.]
If she lives, she is pretty much close to a deity in terms of power.
If she dies, something of the power of her return is lost, as well as the central message I'm trying to convey.
There are of course, a few other options I could consider, and if I'm honest, I'm thinking of a solution somewhere between the two.
As authors we have the power to both create life, and to destroy it in the swipe of a pen stroke. I don't want to give away too much just yet, but I wonder what your thoughts are on that all-important decision: do you let your central character die?
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Post by ottabelle on Dec 4, 2011 18:19:37 GMT
Grey areas are always fun. Could you come up with a way for her to not be dead, yet not be 'alive'? I would hate for your central message to be lost. God-like characters are hard to deal with, in my opinion. They're just too overpowered, unless they're going against other gods. If she is against other dark gods though, and destroys them, wouldn't that make life for the remaining humans too easy? One of the best learning experiences we have is difficult times. That's how we learn; that's how I learned. Sometimes we learn through easy experiences. The fire removes impurities, though. They could still go through emotional turmoil, I suppose. That's just as much fire as anything else. Just some thoughts. I am not against letting a central character die, even though it's so hard; especially if it's one you're in love with. Good luck!
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Post by limebirdsophie on Dec 15, 2011 13:47:37 GMT
Hi Mike, I agree that sometimes killing the central character in a book can be beneficial to the story and sometimes it just seems like an easy way out for the author, i dont know much about the story but is there a way that maybe a climatic event happens that somehow transfers almost all of her powers back to the gods/earth? that way she can still live, the central message is still intact but it still has that climax that no doubt your audience is expecting? I have zero writing experience so its just a very basic idea.
Let us know how you get on.
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Post by 4amWriter on Dec 16, 2011 18:12:54 GMT
Hi Mike,
Would it be possible to kill off the most important person/God/avatar related to your central character? Sometimes when our central characters lose the most important person (or not even just person, something they can't live without) then in a sense, that MC dies.
I think killing central characters is very difficult to get away with, because like limebirdsophie says, it looks like an easy way out for the author.
While you need to come up with a resolution in order to finish the book, you can still make it a bittersweet ending if you take away the most important thing/person of your MC.
Good luck!
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Post by dennismlane on Jan 5, 2012 11:06:16 GMT
I would think that, if the main character came back as an avatar, then she could 'die' and one could still see the positive of it. The chance, even though dead, to do something great; and then move on...
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