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Had a character die mid-scene and my plot fell apart for 2 weeks last month
Was writing this fantasy piece where a merchant gets killed in a bar fight. I thought it would add tension but then I realized he was the only one who knew the map location. Totally stalled out trying to rewrite around it. Anyone else ever kill off a character and regret it immediately?
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harris.vera1mo ago
Maybe their death could unlock the map instead.
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grant_ross2728d ago
That's lazy storytelling @harris.vera. Death needs to mean something.
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haydenburns1mo ago
Character's death could unlock the map instead" - yeah, I mean, that's one way to fix it but you're basically admitting you wrote yourself into a corner. I think killing off that merchant was the right call if you were going for real stakes. Nobody cares about a character who's safe all the time. The problem is you made the map too important to one person. Next time either have the map be a shared secret or make the merchant's death matter more than just a plot device. Sometimes you gotta let the story break and rebuild it stronger.
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