Demisexual falls on the Asexual Spectrum. Essentially, demisexual people do not experience sexual attraction until they’ve developed a strong emotional connection with someone (typically when they’re in a relationship with them), but even then they still may not experience sexual attraction. It’s important to keep in mind that just because someone who’s demisexual is romantically involved with you, or has developed a strong bond with you, doesn’t mean they will definitely start experiencing sexual attraction towards you.
Demiromantic people experience what’s called “secondary romantic attraction”, which means that they sometimes are able to experience romantic attraction to people after they’ve created a close, personal bond with them. Again, sometimes, not always.
Bad books on writing tell you to “WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW”, a solemn and totally false adage that is the reason there exist so many mediocre novels about English professors contemplating adultery.
Don’t have them die of old age after a long, fulfilling life. Many people don’t even think of this as sad (note that this can still work if you have enough of the other factors).
Leave one of their major goals unfinished. The more enthusiastic they are about completing the goal, the sadder.
Give them strong relationships with other characters.
Make them fight against whatever is causing their death. Their ultimate loss is sadder if they struggle.
Kill them in the middle of their character arc.
Don’t describe their funeral in detail. Maybe it’s just me, but I find that long descriptions of funerals kill the sadness.
That’s enough Satan’s publisher…
>B)
7. If possible, try to kill them off in the middle of the story, so we had time to like them and we will have time to let the loss settle in.
8. Also, place surviving characters in a situation where having the deceased person there would help them get out. You can choose whether you will point this fact out or if you want the audience to make the connection themselves.
9. Make them die by sacrificing themselves to save someone they love from a danger created by the antagonist.
based on a few deaths that made me blub like a baby…
10. have their loved one, broken hearted, tell the team to stop fighting because “its over.”
11. have their pet come looking for them.
12. have their loved one perform a popular song at their funeral so it makes the fans cry whenever it’s played.
13. family witnessing the death and/or blaming themselves.
~ Mulan
so… let’s add some frustration to your dear readers’ sadness, shall we?
14. kill the character in the middle of making a joke, smiling, or expressing/experiencing joy/happiness.
15. make the character’s death slow and painful, but make them unable to call out for help even though they can literally see the other characters nearby.
16. after killing the character, have others think the character had betrayed them so they’d always hate them and remember them as traitors and never say nice things about them… Give your readers no chance to have group-therapy with other characters by making them the only ones who know the truth.
17. right before their death, show a side of them nobody has seen. (someone who is always tough and brave being genuinely scared of dying alone; someone who is always laughing being in tears before dying, etc.)
18. make them the only person who knows a big important secret that would help other characters in the story.
19. have them being lied to before dying. (thinking they’ve been betrayed; thinking they weren’t loved; thinking they’ve lost their loved ones, etc)
20. make the character very enthusiastic/passionate about a certain goal, constantly put stress on their goal, have them die unexpectedly before they can reach their goal.
and the best one…
21. have another beloved character kill them–better be a close friend to your character, one that absolutely nobody suspects, one that everyone can’t help but love, one who is always enthusiastic about things and encourages your character. THEN
reveal the truth only later when it’s too late and the a-hole character has already escaped.
have a cowardly character know the truth and never tell anyone else
have another character find out the truth and have them die before revealing it to others.
have the said character ^ not actually die, but go through something so they’d forget the friend of the deceased character is actually an asshole.
This way only your readers will know the truth, thus the frustration would be… most enjoyable for you.
Satan out.
based off of the one character death that physically pains me to think about
23. Make the character a very loving and caring family person, whether it’s with their siblings or parents, their partner, or their children. Make them talk about how much their family means to them frequently. Kill them off before they could even say goodbye.
Bonus points if they have a very young child who means the world to them.
More bonus points if their family member kills them, or they believe their family member to have killed them.
THIS MAKES ME SO INSPIRED TO FINALLY KILL THE SINNAMON ROLL IN CRITICAL SURVIVAL
24. After their death show characters who helped them and who the readers believed were their allies or friends celebrate their death and make jokes of it.
25. And another for not killing their body: Have them come close to death and lose their memory, and after have them work/with for those they were fighting against and find a family there. Their past allies/friends are completely aware of this, except for the person who cared for them most who is drowning in despair believing that they’re dead.
Have you all been playing a bit too much Darkest Dungeon?
Here’s some gruesome suggestions for your more deadly prose.
I decided to make a reference post on most of the writing topics I’ve covered so far. If you’re looking for something specific, this might make it easier. Hope this helps!
Sorry I couldn’t replace the link with the title of the post. CAN’T FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THINGS ON TUMBLR NOW. Also, you can obviously follow my blog for more writing tips or suggest topics for me to cover. Thank you!
-Kris Noel
We’ve reblogged a lot of these already, but this is an awesome resource!
I made a slideshow about how to create a fictional character… I got most of the information from the ‘start writing fiction’ (free) course on the OpenUniversity website and found it incredibly useful so here’s a visual version for you 🙂
Hi there! I would love to! I think I’ll start out with an example with filter words and then cut out the filter words to show you the difference.
For those of you who haven’t seen my post on Filter Words.
Now, for the example:
I felt a hand tap my shoulder as I realized I had made a huge mistake. I knew the consequences would be unsettling, but I had no other choice. I saw the light of my desk lamp bounce off of the officer’s badge before I had even turned around. It seemed like I always found my way into trouble.
It was the first thing off the top of my head, so it’s a bit rough sounding….
Now for without filter words (And a bit of revision):
A hand tapped my shoulder as it dawned on me: I had just made a huge mistake. The consequences would be unsettling if I didn’t get out of this mess, but I had no other choice. The light of my desk lamp bounced off of the officer’s badge. I always found my way into trouble.
By taking out filter words, you get right to the point.
I’d also like to add a few more notes that I didn’t have the chance to post previously.
Some Examples of Filtering:
I heard a noise in the hallway.
She felt embarrassed when she tripped.
I saw a light bouncing through the trees.
I tasted the sour tang of raspberries bursting on my tongue.
He smelled his teammate’s BO wafting through the locker room.
She remembered dancing at his wedding.
I think people should be kinder to one another.
How can you apply this?
Read your work to see how many of these filtering words you might be leaning on. Microsoft Word has a great Find and Highlight feature that I love to use when I’m editing. See how you can get rid of these filtering words and take your sentences to the next level by making stronger word choices. Take the above examples, and see how they can be reworked.
FILTERING EXAMPLE: I heard a noise in the hallway.
DESCRIBE THE SOUND: Heels tapped a staccato rhythm in the hallway.
FILTERING EXAMPLE: She felt embarrassed after she tripped.
DESCRIBE WHAT THE FEELING LOOKS LIKE: Her cheeks flushed and her shoulders hunched after she tripped.
FILTERING EXAMPLE: I saw a light bouncing through the trees.
DESCRIBE THE SIGHT: A light bounced through the trees.
FILTERING EXAMPLE: I tasted the sour tang of raspberries bursting on my tongue.
DESCRIBE THE TASTE: The sour tang of raspberries burst on my tongue.
FILTERING EXAMPLE: He smelled his teammate’s BO wafting through the locker room.
DESCRIBE THE SMELL: His teammate’s BO wafted through the locker room.
FILTERING EXAMPLE: She remembered dancing at his wedding.
DESCRIBE THE MEMORY: She had danced at his wedding.
FILTERING EXAMPLE: I think people should be kinder to one another.
DESCRIBE THE THOUGHT: People should be kinder to one another.
See what a difference it makes when you get rid of the filter? It’s simply not necessary to use them. By ditching them, you avoid “telling,” your voice is more active, and your pacing is helped along.
The above list is not comprehensive as there are many examples of filtering words. The idea is to be aware of the concept so that you can recognize instances of it happening in your work. Be aware of where you want to place the energy and power in your sentences. Let your observations flow through your characters with immediacy.
Ok, sorry for the lengthy answer, I know you just wanted an example…. sorry!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask at my ask box
THIS IS SO GREAT. I dind’t even know there was a term for this (I should have figured, right, because writers have words for everything), but it’s one of those things that being aware when you’re doing it (and editing it right the fuck out) will improve your writing SO MUCH. Removing the filtering helps to draw your readers more intimately into the action of your story, and as the text above says, adds power and immediacy to every sentence. THIS IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT TIP I WANT TO SCREAM ABOUT IT.
starry-eyed 