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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/25012
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I hope this isn't too general. I wanted to ask for advice on making it unclear which characters will survive to the end. The first arc of the story involves a lot of characters, more than 12, but only a few of them will continue on to the next arc, and only a couple will survive till the end. I can give more details if necessary.

**What I'm doing, Presently:**

I'm not having them die off one by one sequentially, like happens in many horror movies so you expect one or two survivors. Instead, I have a cluster of character deaths during the most dangerous point in the story arc.

I feel like there are some tricks and methods you can use for this. For example, if you swap to a character's perspective long before the scene where they die, it gives the audience the impression they will survive. I feel there is more you can do, like giving the character a motivation, a goal, and interesting traits which seem like they'll be important later in the story. If someone is the expert chess player, you feel that'll become important later, then you don't expect the sniper to take them out. If a character likes another character, you expect a romance to play out. In other words, giving the characters value to the story, then killing them despite that.

* * *

What I'd like to ask, is about a method I can use as a rule of thumb, to get me started in the right direction, so I can begin to think about it more dynamically.

Thanks.

Original score: 7