I have several great screenwriting books and in one of them, the author calls characters "plot engines" because they are not real, and their sole purpose is to drive the drama. Nearly every novelist I have ever met will tell you that their characters are real, in a sense, and we owe them some respect, because they inhabit our thoughts and dreams for as long as we are writing about them (and sometimes long after).
I bring this up because I just got an idea that the climax of my current screenplay would be far better if an important secondary character was killed. It makes so much sense thematically, and yet I feel really guilty for even outlining his demise. Like, who’s going to tell the actor in my head who's playing the part that he dies at the end? If this was a one-off story, who cares, but I am outlining a sequel and he won't be in it. How will he feed his family? I can't take this pressure.
Okay, okay. Got a little carried away there, but who else get invested in their characters and hates doing bad things to them? Only me?
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I am totally invested in characters, I don’t understand how a writer can think them not real. If they aren’t real in your head they will be fake on the page. However I feel the ones I make bad shit happen to are not punished, they were there to serve the story as I am there to serve the audience. If published we make each other immortal.
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Debbie. I like your last statement of our character's death making them immortal. Also, in my story the death is an "assumed" death so they could always come back later if needed.
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I outline my characters to feel like real people, and I get invested in them, Joseph Rhea, but I just see them as characters. If they gotta go, they gotta go.
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So in this instance, this individual is similar to my protagonist (age, background, motivations), and that was intentional because I tried to make every character the "hero of their own story" but at the end of the film, my hero is asked to join the family-like crew (far-future cargo submarine) and this fellow dying heroically (while helping hero) provides a now vacant crew position to fill. It all fits, even though it was not originally planned.
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So your main character learns a life lesson from side kick's death and changes MC to another goal never on his radar?
Kinda like Iron Man 1 where Stark is kidnapped and injured, and a stranger-scientist heals & helps him to make the iron suit, and the stranger sacrifices his life to save Stark?
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My main genre is horror, so I take great pleasure in harming my protagonists, however much I love them. The trick isn't caring about your characters, it's making the audience care about them. If there's no emotional trauma when they come to harm, you haven't been doing your job properly.
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Dan MaxXx I didn't see the similarity to "Iron Man" but your comparison makes me appreciate my decision even more. I like this character and I've made him the "emotional core" of the group (everybody's brother) and the fact that having him die during the climax is painful, but that's the point, right? And as Richard Lamb just said, making the audience really care about their death is what my goal should be, and it does redirect my MC towards a better path.
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So one additional thing that might be of interest to other creators here. I've discovered that I'm a sort of "holistic" writer, in that while I create and follow a ridiculously detailed outline, I always let the story unfold in my brain as I write and follow new paths as they appear. What's weird (and really cool) is that, what could be viewed as a simple "tacked-on" death scene, has sent ripples throughout my otherwise completed screenplay and I've already written a full page of notes that will alter aspects of earlier events in a really strong, cohesive way. This is very cool.
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In the Jack Reacher series, not a single important character was killed, but the plot remained good. If you want to kill a character to make a story better, then there is little drama in it and you need to fix it instead of multiplying violence.
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Thanks for your honest feedback, Arthur. I agree with your point regarding adding violence for no other reason than shock value. In my particular case, something happens (in non-science fiction terms, let's say a building collapses). The hero just barely makes it out. What I was considering changing would be that one person doesn't make it out. So it's not specifically adding violence but I fully understand your point. My mind is not made up yet so I appreciate your input.
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Calling Characters "Plot Engines" is a strong thematic punch, but it provides an "insight" into this Person's take on the debate, Character or Plot. Since they are two sides of the same coin, this authority's take catapults the importance of PLOT to a higher thematic "VALUE" over Character. Your response about "killing a Character" is a personal author attribute and part of an entirely different dataset. Thanks for this post because calling a Character a Plot Engine is a very strong statement that requires deeper investigation.
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For the sake of accuracy, here is the exact quote by Clive Frayne in THE PROCESS OF SCREENWRITING:
We create characters with high-levels of dramatic potential by seeing them as dramatic mechanisms. They are not real people. The goal of character development isn't to chase realism. It is to create characters whose behaviour will create drama and good stories.
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It's both: characters are plot engines AND are REAL. But without great characters a great plot will still suck!
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I am the exact opposite. I make people care about a character then torture them in front of the audience.
My wife asked, “why do so many people die in your stories?”
There are no bigger stakes than life and death,
I also love making the escape obvious to everyone, but the character’s flaw prevents them from taking it.
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Regarding plot devices. A good story should be the result of the characters actions and decisions. So they are correct in an incorrect way.
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I write novels and screenplays. My characters are real people to me, no matter the format I choose to write in. Apologize to your character. Let him know you’re sorry this has to happen to him, and keep writing.