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I don’t like bringing back characters from the dead. Either they die or they don’t.

BUT, I might need to pull a resurrection off.

(Warning: This post is gonna be long. Sorry.)

You see, I have a new story knocking around my brain. It’s about a snarky immortal named Ace who, after being convinced he’s a worthless disgrace, wants to die. This is a problem since, you know, he can’t die.

He joins the mortal race of humans because it’s rumored they know how to kill an immortal. He gets caught up in their lives and their war and character development happens.

Throughout the story, Ace learns that life is valuable and should be protected. As part of this growth, he needs to be in danger of losing his life. So, after he discovers he wants to live, he needs to lose his immortality.

The only way to lose immortality is to give what causes this eternal life to someone else. The only reason he’d give this thing up after he discovers he wants to live is if it saves another’s life.

So, he needs to watch someone die. That’s when he understands how one’s life truly affects everyone else. Then, he needs to hand over his immortality by bringing this person back.

Hence the resurrection.

I’ve got a few issues. First of all, resurrections cheat readers and forgo consequences. I’m not sure how to pull that off without making people upset. I’m also not sure how to handle the consequences. I’d have Ace die in the climax, but there are two more books he needs to live through.

Second, I’m not sure where to put this event. This side character’s death would happen around the third plot point. However, that means I’d have two realizations/turning points that lead to the climax. The first would be that Ace realizes the value of life and brings this side character back. That’s great.

But I also wanted his choice to risk his newfound mortality to stop the antagonist to be another turning point/revelation. His choice to save his dead friend must come before he commits to stopping the villain, or he could simply stop the <span style=”background-color: #f6d5d9;”>villain </span>while being immortal and the climax would lose its stakes.

As I see it, having both near the same time would lessen the impact.

Third, I can’t really take this resurrection out because it has a lot to do with the plot and the villain’s goal. And the story world.

My last option would be to make this side character who was resurrected die again. Perhaps what Ace did to bring him back doesn’t last. But that’s mean and makes me sad.

But if I keep him alive, I need an exception. The villain wants to resurrect people like Ace did. However, it can’t work for him, at least, not in the way he wants. I need a reason why it worked on this certain side character and not on the people the villain wanted to bring back.

I’m in a pickle. Anyone have any tips on resurrections? And suggestions on turning point/realization placement?

@daeus-lamb @Brandon @Kate @Snapper @Ethryndal @morreafirebird @elizabeth @sam-kowal @everyone else I can’t think of