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Q&A Should I describe a character deeply before killing it?

The superficial problem is whether the readers will care about this character, but the deeper problem is YOU don't care about him. You even describe him as "it" --there's no emotional investment h...

posted 5y ago by Chris Sunami‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T12:33:20Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/46898
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Chris Sunami‭ · 2019-12-08T12:33:20Z (almost 5 years ago)
The superficial problem is whether the readers will care about this character, but **the deeper problem is YOU don't care about him**. You even describe him as "it" --there's no emotional investment here.

It's fine to start telling your story at the point where the father is killed, but **you need to have done the mental work of imagining his back story** , and his life with his daughter --all the tender and the tough moments.

**Otherwise, their relationship will seem thin, insubstantial and emotionally uncompelling**. Your mistake here --a very common one --is to assume that just because you aren't putting it on the page, you don't need to think about it.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-07-25T15:49:15Z (over 5 years ago)
Original score: 5