Killing off the main character

[Chessie]

Hiya, Scribes!

So in the novelette I'm working on, the main character dies (she must) and I'm not really sure how to continue the narrative from there. I have two choices: end the story right there and then without a strong emotional resolution to the story, or end the story from another character's perspective. The latter idea would be a shorter part of the story, perhaps about a page long, just enough to satisfy the reader into an ending.

Anyone have ideas, suggestions, or comments to this approach? The novelette is approximately 14,000 words. Thanks a bunch!

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

Give the ending. Stories need a resolution. However, make sure that new POV has an emotional connection and reaction to the loss of the MC.

Handled that way, the reader can get a sense that the death meant something, that the character mattered to another, & that a piece of the MC lives on.

 

[BWFoster78]

I agree with TAS.

Title the last part "Epilogue."

 

[Chessie]

Ooh, an epilogue in a novelette...hadn't thought of that!

 

[BWFoster78]

Ooh, an epilogue in a novelette...hadn't thought of that!

Hmmm. I don't see why not. I'd have put one in my novella if it were warranted.

Interestingly enough, both my novels have an epilogue told from the POV of a character that did not previously have a POV chapter. For the second of those, the entire novel was in the protagonist's POV and the epilogue changed viewpoints.

I'm not sure what this post has to do with anything, but there it is ...

Brian

 

[Chessie]

Well, it helps to know others include epilogues in shorts as well. In this case, that resolution would come from the mc's husband.

 

[evolution_rex]

I think ending your story abruptly after your character dies could hypothetically be pretty effective but only under the right contexts, and there should probably be some foreshadowing. If your story deals about how quick it is to die, how there may or may not be some place after death, etc, if your story deals with the right themes and an ending like that reaffirms or expresses that theme, then I say totally go for it.

If there isn't symbolism or theme relating to it behind the scenes, then there really isn't a point and I would put a resolution of some kind. If the whole story is in your character's point of view, then it's a bit funky if the ending or epilogue is in another character's point of view, but maybe that's just me. I guess I have a level of OCD in which if I were to do that, I'd also have to have a prologue with a different point of view, perhaps the same character, just to establish that this story does change point of views.

Another option is to allow your character to live long enough to see the resolution before dying, making a bittersweet ending.

 

[Gurkhal]

I say; end it from another character's perspective so that we will get to see how the death of the MC mattered and affected the world around her, even if just for a short time and to a small ammount of people.

 

[JohnWhitefield]

I'm inclined to agree with the others that have posted before me.

I once struggled with the same issue on a story I developed a few years back. I got some advice from a friend at that point to direct the story after the death to the person that was closest to the MC who has survived whatever events happened to kill the MC. Showing the aftermath through that character can be very powerful if there's a good established link between the characters. So I definitely do not recommend just jumping to a new character.

As for potentially ending it just after the MC dies, I don't think that would work very well if it leaves the reader wondering if "was that it? No real ending?". In a way, the reader can feel very cheated with that. Sometimes, you might see this done in movies or TV, but they still usually leave some leeway for an ending or hints of what the ending is. It'd be very difficult to pull off in writing though, I think.

 

[arbiter117]

I listened to a "story/advert" for a game called Halo 5 (yeah yeah not a novel, but still a story in there) where the MC was unravelling a big govt conspiracy but was put in prison to never be seen again( basically dying) the story didn't end there, but continued a bit from the POV of a close associate of his to give some resolution

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Arranah]

When I kill off the main character, they are still part of the story, only now they don't have a physical body. I remember reading Thornbirds years ago. She killed off the love interest of the main character and the story devolved from there. I refused to read Colleen McCullough again. My life has been very hard. Too many people I care about have died. I read for escape. So when I kill off one of the major characters, they are still there in spirit form.

 

[DanJames]

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. A mech anime that 8 episodes in, out of nowhere, kills it's main character. It shocking, a big swerve and you have no real idea where the show is going beyond that. It runs for a further 19 episodes (should've been longer in my opinion, but it's still amazing).

All you have to do in terms of switching POVs is to make sure that you're creating a character that the reader will know and want to hear their POV.

You wouldn't hurt the verse to change POV characters, but it would be worthwhile to establish a precedent, with maybe a prologue by another character whbo isn't your main character. Ultimately I think killing the main character is amazing.