Killing Characters

This is another one that is just something that I have picked up over the years and depending on you audience will really determine how you go about this, but this is just a few of the things I have notice. Killing characters is good. When you kill people off your audience understands that your characters are mortal and that they might not live through the situations. This does not mean you should kill characters willy-nilly. Deaths should have a purpose and move the plot forward in some way. It can be a good fuse for getting the protagonist to act. It is a good way show the antagonists brutality. For example I once heard a talk about STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI. The original plan was to have the Millennium Falcon blow up in the explosion of the Death Star. The death of Lando would have been tragic but it wouldn't have helped with any character or plot development. But, having Luke die at the hand of the Emperor and then Darth Vader kills him could add more depth to Darth Vader's character.

Once again a lot of this is personal preference. I hate wasteful deaths but there has to be an element of peril. There is one series where the author just kills people off because it seems like she doesn't want anyone to have a happy ending. People die in a sentence and nothing comes from it. There is another series where the author keeps finding ways to bring his characters back. Twenty books into the series the protagonist from the first book has been brought back to life multiple times, his age reversed, and even transported through time. Neither situation makes for pleasant reading in the long run.