: Re: Should I describe a character deeply before killing it? So, I have this little story I would like to tell. It's about a girl and how she's forced to take a journey with the man who has

The primary reason for going into details about a character is to make the reader care about them. The opposite is also true: If you only sketch a character in the most broad ways, readers are unlikely to more than barely notice their demise. That's why nobody cares or even counts how many nameless soldiers, monsters or other enemies the protagonist kills. That's why when the antagonist is about to murder some innocent civilians, the story usually spends at least a few moments to show their human side - the child hugging its favorite toy, the old couple arguing in that deeply connected you-know-they-actually-love-each-other way, the young lovers kissing, the father holding his family. Even a small glimpse into them as people makes us care, at least a bit.

So the answer really depends on what you want to make the reader feel about that character. Is his death meaningful? Is the character important? Should the reader care about him? That does not mean sympathize - we also deeply care when the evil overlord is finally vanquished. But only if we have seen into his soul, if the story showed us how he hatched some of his plans, how he discussed just how much he hates everyone, how he enjoyed torturing his enemies - these glimpes into the character make us care about his fate.

If you want the readers emotions focussed entirely on the girl, you would leave the man a blank canvas, sketch him only from the outside (appearance, behaviour) and stay with the girl during the moment of death. Describing her perspective exclusively, even when it's his death that's the center of the scene, will connect the readers strongly with the girl.

But if you want the reader to not just see but actually notice that this man is now dead or even more, the manner of his death, and the justice behind it, and the meaning for the world and how this closes his character arc - then you need to give the reader also a connection to the man so that he can care about this event, and feel emotionally involved.

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: Re: Should I describe a character deeply before killing it? So, I have this little story I would like to tell. It's about a girl and how she's forced to take a journey with the man who has

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: Is an easily guessed plot twist a good plot twist? In my post-apocalyptic novel, there are two "twists", but they're mostly tied up in each other. The first is that humans have developed

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: Should I stick with American terminology in my English set young adult book? I am writing a book that is set in England, but because I would get the book published in America I don't know

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