My beta reader said my ending was 'too tidy' so now I kill off a different character every draft
She told me in March that wrapping everything up in the last chapter felt like a sitcom, so I tried the opposite and now I have 6 versions where someone dies at the picnic. Which one would you pick: the aunt, the dog, or the guy who fixes the boat?
Wait you killed the dog?? That's a whole different level of dark for a picnic scene. People will forgive an aunt getting hit by a car or the boat guy drowning, but the dog? Readers will riot and leave one star reviews without even reading the book. I'd go with the aunt personally, the boat guy feels too much like a plot device and you can only pull the dog card if you want everyone to hate you forever.