blamebrampton: 15th century woodcut of a hound (Default)
If you speak to British children of A Certain Age and whisper to them the phrase, 'Otter film', you will witness a remarkable phenomenon. Firstly, their eyes will soften, as they recall the rollick and gambol of the otters and how they were charmed by them, and then there will be a moment where their eyes go wide, perhaps moisten, then crease in despair as they shout 'YOU BASTARD!' at you.

This is because there were two seminal otter films* in the 60s and 70s that were both wonderful and beautiful, save that both ended with the death of the otters.

Character death, even when it's an otter, is hard! Hard to read, hard to view, hard to write convincingly, hard to make work within the context of the wider story. On the other hand, when it's done well, the dramatic payoff can be remarkable. But where is the line between deaths that come organically from the plot and those which are used for exploitative emotional gain? And how can you kill off a character without having generations of British children hating you forever?

I don't pretend to have the definitive answers, but I have a few thoughts. Many of my examples in the following will be drawn from Season 2 of Dance Academy, which practically none of you watch, but you'll be able to follow without any worries. Suffice to say that if you DO watch DA and are behind, there are spoilers abungo! The remaining examples are drawn from Harry Potter, Heathers, The Hunger Games, The Demon's Covenant, Seven Little Australians, Pulp Fiction, Serenity and Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. And a few other random books and films that I have forgotten to come back and mention, which you've all either seen or will never see, so it doesn't matter.

1. Why kill characters? )

2. Who should you kill off? )

3. How should you kill them? )

4. How do you break the news in story? )

5. Should you warn your readers? )

6. How do you walk the line between emotional effect and exploitation? )

7. What's the fallout? )


* Tarka the Otter and Ring of Bright Water are the two films to watch out for. And avoid like the plague if you value your cheerful outlook on life. The only thing crueller to inflict on children than these two films is Seven Little Australians. There are a few significant downsides to having an English father and Australian mother, spending my childhood dealing with Character Building Story was one of them!

** In the interests of fairness, Jodi Picoult has some beautiful turns of phrase and pays her readers the credit of being mature and intelligent enough to deal with the discourse of complex emotional, moral and ethical topics. Some people find her novels engaging, involving and profoundly moving. They are all much, much nicer people than I am. 

*** That said, Sydney motorists are 90% lovely and 10% homicidal twats, so it's not impossible.
blamebrampton: 15th century woodcut of a hound (Default)
Ages ago, the lovely [livejournal.com profile] georgia_hawkins  asked how people sit down and actually write: the brass tacks practical version of things. I've been an editor, writer and journalist for over 20 years, so I waved my hand loftily at the ease of answering such a question and then started to jot down a few notes. Then a few topics to cover at more length in my response, which quickly grew beyond the limit of a comment. And then beyond the limit of a single post. And then I needed to research it more and provide more examples ... and suffice to say that now, what must be coming up on a year later I have still not come close to finishing the bugger and have 11,000 words of practical writing, technical and editing tips languishing on my hard drive, helping nobody.

So, as part of Operation Finish Things, I am going to start posting bits when I have finished them up to something approaching my satisfaction. They will be, as the trains say here, late and out of timetable order. But I hope, also like trains, of some use.

There are two very important caveats. Firstly, nothing I say represents the One True Way. There is no One true Way, these are just things that I have seen work for myself or others over the years. Please feel free to comment with things that work well for you, too. 

Secondly, everything I have written below and everything that will come in future parts in this series is written from the perspective of the advice I would give someone who was planning to publish their work (because I cannot turn off my work brain to write this). Not all of it is appropriate for every occasion or for everyone in fandom. Do not think that you need do any more than you want to, because fandom is first and foremost about the enjoyment of participants. Needless to say, I sometimes fail at everything I am going to advise all through these posts. They represent an ideal, like five serves of veg and an hour's exercise every day. But like all ideals, they are good goals.

All quotes are given with attributions, all unattributed quotes are made up on the spot for the purpose of the exercise and should not be judged too harshly. Annoyingly for the lovely [livejournal.com profile] georgia_hawkins , I've begun at the end with my section on editing your own work, which is of absolutely no use in answering her original question, but may be of some help for some of you. Inevitably there will be an appalling typo or two below, as there is in every 'how to edit' post. I apologise in advance and submit that it cannot be worse than the time I received a rejection from a Political Figure telling me that my freelance copy was far too easygoing for the Pubic Service.


THE EDITING PROCESS
Spotting blunders )

Put it aside for a time )


Basic beta checklist )
blamebrampton: 15th century woodcut of a hound (Default)
Ages ago, the lovely [livejournal.com profile] georgia_hawkins  asked how people sit down and actually write: the brass tacks practical version of things. I've been an editor, writer and journalist for over 20 years, so I waved my hand loftily at the ease of answering such a question and then started to jot down a few notes. Then a few topics to cover at more length in my response, which quickly grew beyond the limit of a comment. And then beyond the limit of a single post. And then I needed to research it more and provide more examples ... and suffice to say that now, what must be coming up on a year later I have still not come close to finishing the bugger and have 11,000 words of practical writing, technical and editing tips languishing on my hard drive, helping nobody.

So, as part of Operation Finish Things, I am going to start posting bits when I have finished them up to something approaching my satisfaction. They will be, as the trains say here, late and out of timetable order. But I hope, also like trains, of some use.

There are two very important caveats. Firstly, nothing I say represents the One True Way. There is no One true Way, these are just things that I have seen work for myself or others over the years. Please feel free to comment with things that work well for you, too. 

Secondly, everything I have written below and everything that will come in future parts in this series is written from the perspective of the advice I would give someone who was planning to publish their work (because I cannot turn off my work brain to write this). Not all of it is appropriate for every occasion or for everyone in fandom. Do not think that you need do any more than you want to, because fandom is first and foremost about the enjoyment of participants. Needless to say, I sometimes fail at everything I am going to advise all through these posts. They represent an ideal, like five serves of veg and an hour's exercise every day. But like all ideals, they are good goals.

All quotes are given with attributions, all unattributed quotes are made up on the spot for the purpose of the exercise and should not be judged too harshly. Annoyingly for the lovely [livejournal.com profile] georgia_hawkins , I've begun at the end with my section on editing your own work, which is of absolutely no use in answering her original question, but may be of some help for some of you. Inevitably there will be an appalling typo or two below, as there is in every 'how to edit' post. I apologise in advance and submit that it cannot be worse than the time I received a rejection from a Political Figure telling me that my freelance copy was far too easygoing for the Pubic Service.


THE EDITING PROCESS
Spotting blunders )

Put it aside for a time )


Basic beta checklist )

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