Writer Wedneday: How To Kill Your Protagonist

writersrelief.com:

There are many reasons writers decide to kill off their protagonist. The trick is to do it for the right reasons and in a way that won’t make the reader stomp off in a huff.

Read the whole story: writersrelief.com

Comments

[AnaM]

11:23 PM on 07/20/2011

A character that I would have liked to have seen killed off: Harry Potter.
I don't know why exactly, but the final book had a contrived ending that didn't mesh with the previous novels. How does Harry Potter go from being in love with 'ethnic' types of girls to wedding an Anglo girl? Was this motivated/encouraged by the publisher, so as not to rock the boat?

I thought Richard Matheson's treatment of Robert Neville in I Am Legend was well done.

[Brigette]

06:19 PM on 07/20/2011

I would highly discourage this. It may gain you some die hard fans, particularly if it moves the plot forward (see also Game of Thrones), but it's going to turn most people off. It may simply come down to following your voice or selling books. You may have the luxury to choose the first one after you've become more successful.