I haven't found anyone to fill the void made by the ones I've killed off. But, it does leave room. All the characters serve their own necessary function. Balance, yes.
A beloved character dies at the end of my current draft, and he will not be brought back. (I've had one character death averted through time travel, although in my story it actually still has occurred, but they found another path. A play on Shroedinger's Cat, lol, before I ever heard of Shroedinger's Cat. But as for the other who dies, he really was finished. And it's very sad. I've brought pre-readers to tears with it, so I guess it works. And I also guess it will really piss readers off. Because I've got readers who haven't gotten to that point yet tell me how much they love him...
I've got one main rule for character death. It must be necessary, and not just gratuitous blood letting.
Battles require it. And sometimes there are other reasons. Mine died because he was finished, and it was a very necessary plot point... I ramble.
As to dialogue, I've had more characters around in a scene, but I don't think I've gone beyond five or six actually speaking. It's fun having them bounce their ideas off each other, and watching the reactions play out.
I'm working hard not to stress about the continuing story. But I find myself still stressing. I think my remedy will be to just start writing when the time comes. That's how I started this in the first place, and it served me well so far. You know, that old Investigator Questioning method. ;-) Yes.
I also don't agree with the "write every day" rule. If I thought that were necessary, I'd have given up by now. I need the down time to let the subconscious do it's job. y
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ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2010-03-02 10:40 pm (UTC)A beloved character dies at the end of my current draft, and he will not be brought back. (I've had one character death averted through time travel, although in my story it actually still has occurred, but they found another path. A play on Shroedinger's Cat, lol, before I ever heard of Shroedinger's Cat. But as for the other who dies, he really was finished. And it's very sad. I've brought pre-readers to tears with it, so I guess it works. And I also guess it will really piss readers off. Because I've got readers who haven't gotten to that point yet tell me how much they love him...
I've got one main rule for character death. It must be necessary, and not just gratuitous blood letting.
Battles require it. And sometimes there are other reasons. Mine died because he was finished, and it was a very necessary plot point... I ramble.
As to dialogue, I've had more characters around in a scene, but I don't think I've gone beyond five or six actually speaking. It's fun having them bounce their ideas off each other, and watching the reactions play out.
I'm working hard not to stress about the continuing story. But I find myself still stressing. I think my remedy will be to just start writing when the time comes. That's how I started this in the first place, and it served me well so far. You know, that old Investigator Questioning method. ;-) Yes.
I also don't agree with the "write every day" rule. If I thought that were necessary, I'd have given up by now. I need the down time to let the subconscious do it's job.
y