My Thoughts on Death Scenes and Update

March 11, 2022

I had a wonderful writing experience this morning. In my writing, I don't usually have a lot of death scenes. I'm not against killing off characters but I typically only do it when I feel it's necessary and will add to the story. This morning I wrote a death scene in particular that I felt was on point. There was significant character development for the two main characters and it caused a major plot shift in the novel, causing the characters to make new goals and change their points of view. I was proud of the scene and am happy with how it turned out. 

Writing this scene made me think about books I've read in the past with death scenes that I have found significantly meaningful. The first one that came to mind was, and I'll avoid spoilers, Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz. There's a particular scene in that book which rocked my world. That's the first book I've ever truly wept reading. It was beautifully done and beautifully set up. The perfect death scene. I want to write scenes that move people like that as well so I better get practicing. 

I just finished reading through the Escape from the Isle of the Forsaken Gods book. It's always fun and terrifying reading through a book you spent the last few months writing. There are parts I need to go through and cut, fact checking that needs to be done, plot holes that need to be filled, but I did like the ending. I'm excited to see how the book will look after I go through it with a more editorial eye this time. 

I've taken a break from querying, not because I've given up, but because I want to review my query letter wording again and revise my synopsis once more. It's a difficult process but after spending so long writing a book it would be shameful if I couldn't portray it the best I could. I'm grateful for the chance to experience this process and have found it overall enjoyable. It's fun to show your work to people. It helps me take my writing and reading more seriously. 

Lastly, I've been continuing to work on my architect book. I've just made it to a major plot shift in the book and am really enjoying the characterization of all the characters so far. I need to go back and possibly give one of my characters more defining characteristics and a more noticeable personality, but I'm proud of how things are turning out. 

Thank you for reading this post. What are some books you've read with great death scenes? Do you have a hard time killing off characters in your writing? What's your favorite part of the writing process? 

Have a great rest of your day and keep dreaming and day dreaming about all those wonderful stories in your head.