Death by accident

[Giya Kusezu]

I agree with what others have said here, in that if the death supports an important piece of the plot, then it is acceptable.

While I might feel miffed that a character I may have grown to like just up and died, that stuff does happen. And I'll be honest - Depending on the circumstances, it might even be humorous in a bemusing sort of way. Like, "Well, shoot. There goes our best hope for saving the world! The irony."

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

To me like the others it's all about plot, and an accident can be just as much part of a plot as an intentional event. The real question is how well any death serves the plot. I can think of killings that annoyed me too.

One that strikes me is at the end of the Deathstalker trilogy by Simon Green, where the MC's love interest is murdered by his mad nephew - stabbed in the back for no reason save that the nephew is mad and completely incapable of relating his own actions to others. That death annoyed me because it seemed so pointless. Maybe I also wanted a happy ending - I could be a mushy sort at times. But it didn't really add anything save to deprive me as the reader of a bit of enjoyment. By contrast Romeo and Juliet's deaths make sense and bring home the play as a tragedy. They don't annoy me.

The question is, what point does a death of any sort, accidental or otherwise, add to the story? If it adds nothing and it's a main character, dump it.

Cheers, Greg.