: Re: Studies of when to kill a character I have a pretty simple question: Are there any studies/surveys that show the appropriate time to kill a main character earliest? I am talking about studies

There are no studies that I'm aware so I'll give you my opinion which is, kill off the character when the time is right. As you've said, too early and your reader won't feel any emotion but too late and you won't have time to deal with the repurcussions of the death.

I myself have killed off someone I portrayed as a main character in the first chapter of a book as it saved me a lot of time later explaining why the real main character is like he is.

The late author James Herbert was an expert at making a character, giving them a back story then killing them all in the space of a single chapter. I distinctly remember in his book "The Fog" where a girl was sitting on the beach reflecting on the summer of love she'd had which had just ended. The whole thing was very detailed and led to her deciding she wanted to live but at that point, a whole load of infected had filled the beach and pushed her into the sea.

On TV, Star Trek: The Next Generation created Tasha Yar, the security chief, made her a central figure in several story lines then killed her half way through series one. This gave the viewer the belief that any main character could be killed because Tasha was a "main" character for so long.

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: Re: Studies of when to kill a character I have a pretty simple question: Are there any studies/surveys that show the appropriate time to kill a main character earliest? I am talking about studies

More posts by @Speyer920

: How can I implement more show less tell in my writing? I wrote this piece, but have had quite a lot of problems with showing, not telling. I am wondering how I can add More SHOW and less

: The extent of obscure references How far is too far? If I am aiming for considerable accessibility, and, in my story, I mention Salvador Dali whose name is tier-2, not on the level of Picasso

: Can I publish excerpts from a letter without permission? It will be my pleasure to cite the author of the letter. I'm looking at perhaps ten sentences out of a four page letter. I have the

: Should I write "what do the data show" or "what does the data show"? I wonder what the proper way of writing this question is: What do the data show? What does the data show?

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