Should he die?

[Everin]

Ok, so this isn't a hate thread or something, this is actually a writer asking opinions and asking for some help.
Ok, so I'm a writer. I write novels, screenplays etc. That doesnt matter though, because at the moment Im writing a romance novel (dont judge, seriously, that stuff sells) and do you think that the boy should die at the end. Theres a boy and a girl, some complications and some drama. Theres no three person triangle love affair or whatever, just a romance story with ordinary lives thrown in and some drama. Disease and all that. But would the novel be good or bad if you read it and then the main male role, the guy, died at the end. Or do you think that would be a good final twist? I've got writer's block on this subject, so your opinions please

 

[McPulse]

If there's going to be any death, it has to be justified by the genre and story.

Otherwise, nothing's going to make your audience shout 'yaaaaaay, twist ending!'

 

[edy131]

Depends on what you're planning after this. Like a sequel or something, then you should keep him alive.
If you do opt for him to kick the bucket, you should really make his death make sense, at least from the reader's perspective, like don't just make him die out of a mysterious illness or a random accident, make his death relevant to the story. And also: don't be cruel to your characters, let them have their happy times.

 

[TheIronRuler]

Ok, so this isn't a hate thread or something, this is actually a writer asking opinions and asking for some help.
Ok, so I'm a writer. I write novels, screenplays etc. That doesnt matter though, because at the moment Im writing a romance novel (dont judge, seriously, that stuff sells) and do you think that the boy should die at the end. Theres a boy and a girl, some complications and some drama. Theres no three person triangle love affair or whatever, just a romance story with ordinary lives thrown in and some drama. Disease and all that. But would the novel be good or bad if you read it and then the main male role, the guy, died at the end. Or do you think that would be a good final twist? I've got writer's block on this subject, so your opinions please

If you're going for a lyrical classic, having the boy die is actually making others around him suffer. If the pint here is to make the boy suffer and through his reactions you build the novel, then you should make him experience loss and not die himself.
If this isn't lyrical, I see little merit in killing your character. There are some examples of adding to the novel by disposing of the amin character. The character reaching a realization that he had contemplated throughout the book that everyone would be better off without him, so he goes out and offs himself in the best way possible without hurting others around him, i.e. usually suicide or if he's devote he could try and do something that risks his life in order to save others, which is always great for him to die some sort of a heroic death in that situation.
First of all I'd be glad if you'll expand more on the matter.
...
I'm writing a short story in which my main character dies in the first chapter. How do you like that? If it's played right, a death can add to your story but it can also diminish its value if it's unnecessary.

 

[TheIronRuler]

Depends on what you're planning after this. Like a sequel or something, then you should keep him alive.
If you do opt for him to kick the bucket, you should really make his death make sense, at least from the reader's perspective, like don't just make him die out of a mysterious illness or a random accident, make his death relevant to the story. And also: don't be cruel to your characters, let them have their happy times.

Why? Vonnegut made he career by making his characters as miserable as they could be.

 

[Everin]

Ok, so this isn't a hate thread or something, this is actually a writer asking opinions and asking for some help.
Ok, so I'm a writer. I write novels, screenplays etc. That doesnt matter though, because at the moment Im writing a romance novel (dont judge, seriously, that stuff sells) and do you think that the boy should die at the end. Theres a boy and a girl, some complications and some drama. Theres no three person triangle love affair or whatever, just a romance story with ordinary lives thrown in and some drama. Disease and all that. But would the novel be good or bad if you read it and then the main male role, the guy, died at the end. Or do you think that would be a good final twist? I've got writer's block on this subject, so your opinions please

If you're going for a lyrical classic, having the boy die is actually making others around him suffer. If the pint here is to make the boy suffer and through his reactions you build the novel, then you should make him experience loss and not die himself.
If this isn't lyrical, I see little merit in killing your character. There are some examples of adding to the novel by disposing of the amin character. The character reaching a realization that he had contemplated throughout the book that everyone would be better off without him, so he goes out and offs himself in the best way possible without hurting others around him, i.e. usually suicide or if he's devote he could try and do something that risks his life in order to save others, which is always great for him to die some sort of a heroic death in that situation.
First of all I'd be glad if you'll expand more on the matter.
...
I'm writing a short story in which my main character dies in the first chapter. How do you like that? If it's played right, a death can add to your story but it can also diminish its value if it's unnecessary.

What else can I expand on to help make it make more sense?
And can you explain to me how your 'main' character dies, and then continues to be the main character. Im just interested in how that would work, I do like cool ideas

 

[Agarth]

Yes. Though you should probably ignore my comment because my utter hatred for humanity is strongly kicking in right now. The more dead people, the better. That's why I'm looking forward to the Apocalypse. (No. Not the 2012 one. That one's just stupid)

 

[Everin]

Yes. Though you should probably ignore my comment because my utter hatred for humanity is strongly kicking in right now. The more dead people, the better. That's why I'm looking forward to the Apocalypse. (No. Not the 2012 one. That one's just stupid)

But whats wrong with humanity? Im genuinely interested, whats so bad about us? From your perspective, that is

 

[TheIronRuler]

-snip-
What else can I expand on to help make it make more sense?
And can you explain to me how your 'main' character dies, and then continues to be the main character. Im just interested in how that would work, I do like cool ideas

His death begins the story and the chain of events, which is the plot, but he also interacts with the people around him and changes their course even after death.
You appears in memory and also in present day.

 

[edy131]

Yes. Though you should probably ignore my comment because my utter hatred for humanity is strongly kicking in right now. The more dead people, the better. That's why I'm looking forward to the Apocalypse. (No. Not the 2012 one. That one's just stupid)

Sure we make mistakes but hey, we're only human :fingergun:

 

[Griffolion]

Ok, so this isn't a hate thread or something, this is actually a writer asking opinions and asking for some help.
Ok, so I'm a writer. I write novels, screenplays etc. That doesnt matter though, because at the moment Im writing a romance novel (dont judge, seriously, that stuff sells) and do you think that the boy should die at the end. Theres a boy and a girl, some complications and some drama. Theres no three person triangle love affair or whatever, just a romance story with ordinary lives thrown in and some drama. Disease and all that. But would the novel be good or bad if you read it and then the main male role, the guy, died at the end. Or do you think that would be a good final twist? I've got writer's block on this subject, so your opinions please

I'm never really one for a big sad ending or a big twist, I like straight up happy ones, but that's just me in my deluded fantasy world. So yeah, in the words of John Dorian:

Nobody dies!

 

[Trippy Turtle]

Make him die it makes everyone all sad.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

As someone who doesn't read romance novels and probably never will, the character dying is probably the more powerful ending, for what that's worth. I don't know if that's what you WANT from a romance novel though.

 

[AdeptaSororitas]

I've read my share of romance novels(Yes, Sisters of Battle read romance novels too) and, I'm sorry, if I bought your book and the MC died, unless EVERYTHING had already been set up to kill him and his survival defied the laws of the novels universe, I'd throw it against the gorram wall. Call me classic, I like happy endings, I understand death is powerful but... If its someone I put SO much effort into? Id grab my good old Mastercrafter Flamer(Sold in a store near you).

 

[Agarth]

Yes. Though you should probably ignore my comment because my utter hatred for humanity is strongly kicking in right now. The more dead people, the better. That's why I'm looking forward to the Apocalypse. (No. Not the 2012 one. That one's just stupid)

Sure we make mistakes but hey, we're only human :fingergun:

What's wrong with humanity? Several things. We've been killing each other since the dawn of time, we nuked our own world several times... Actually I'm pretty sure that every species on earth gets along better than we do. Almost every person I've met is hypocritical and stupid... Actually just to save five hour of my life, just play a match of CoD, filters of, volume up, no one you know in the match.

Edit: I may or may not of read your reply correctly at first.

 

[Danzaivar]

Make him die 3/4's of the way through. Tossing it in just before the end is kinda overdone tbh

 

[Dimitriov]

In a tragedy they die at the end.

In a comedy they get married.


What style do you prefer?

 

[edy131]

Yes. Though you should probably ignore my comment because my utter hatred for humanity is strongly kicking in right now. The more dead people, the better. That's why I'm looking forward to the Apocalypse. (No. Not the 2012 one. That one's just stupid)

Sure we make mistakes but hey, we're only human :fingergun:

What's wrong with humanity? Several things. We've been killing each other since the dawn of time, we nuked our own world several times... Actually I'm pretty sure that every species on earth gets along better than we do. Almost every person I've met is hypocritical and stupid... Actually just to save five hour of my life, just play a match of CoD, filters of, volume up, no one you know in the match.

Edit: I may or may not of read your reply correctly at first.

You know, it's easy to lay the blame on something if you only point out the flaws and don't take into account the other stuff; there are MANY acts of goodwill out there, hell, maybe as many as our own faults. You should look up Crowning moment of heartwarming/Real life on TVTropes. [:

 

[SckizoBoy]

Ok, so this isn't a hate thread or something, this is actually a writer asking opinions and asking for some help.
Ok, so I'm a writer. I write novels, screenplays etc. That doesnt matter though, because at the moment Im writing a romance novel (dont judge, seriously, that stuff sells) and do you think that the boy should die at the end. Theres a boy and a girl, some complications and some drama. Theres no three person triangle love affair or whatever, just a romance story with ordinary lives thrown in and some drama. Disease and all that. But would the novel be good or bad if you read it and then the main male role, the guy, died at the end. Or do you think that would be a good final twist? I've got writer's block on this subject, so your opinions please

It honestly depends on what the source impact you're going for.

I write tragedies in the main, so, of course, I'm going to say, yes he should die. But his death should signify something and not just be the culmination of events from what came before in the story. If nothing of dramatic value is added as a result of his passing, I don't think you should bother. But, if development of at least one other main character is furthered then it is a possibility.

I had to drop an idea (for which I had written a couple dozen sketches) for a romantic tragedy because it had turned into a sob-fest from beginning to end (both die, and the only moment of 'happy' is the epilogue in the afterlife).