Brandon Miller

Ooh, your tip on the sentences (or, in my case, usually paragraphs) starting with the same word is really helpful. I hadn’t thought about using those as an opportunity to work in description.

Great points. It’s also really helpful to change the font and/or size, as it wakes your brain up and says ‘hey look, this is new!’

Okay but I snorted out loud when I read your point about IEW. Same, Brandon, same. Not totally sure where you got the Steve Irwin idea from, since I’m pretty sure the guy had a very strong accent that was decidedly not Australian. xD

But on the subject of the actual post…great tips! Definitely things I’m going to keep in mind.

I needed this; I am a terrible self-editor.
“Have fun. You wrote a book. That’s super cool” I don’t hear this very often in writing craft articles. Thank you! 🙂

This is very helpful, thank you! 😀

Yup, I use the reading aloud technique with e v e r y t h i n g. I do catch so much more when someone else reads my work to me, especially hearing the tone and inflection they see in it. I’ve been able to catch some pretty crucial miswordings because of that. xD

Great article, Brandon!

Thanks, this is really helpful, even though i’m not done with any of my books yet!

And i did a little of IEW (did a couple before starting CC, to help with LTW) and though it was.. 4 years ago, i remember doing the sea wasp, thinking the animal was cool (because who wouldn’t think that this thing that killed you really quickly was cool? 😛 😉 ) but hated writing the paper.. XD

I mean, as an academic writing course it’s okay. But when IEW was my writing curriculum, I didn’t like writing (which is now my favorite thing.) So… I guess that’s what I can say. He teaches well though.

Oh, wow a short story. You are brave. I can’t pull a short story off. Go you though!

Wow, excellent post!! So helpful.
I am (was) an IEW-er. Bleh. Dress-ups and report papers and lasting-forever videos. Not my favorite writing course. But I happened to be writing my first story (I was 8) when I took it and my mom apparently noticed my writing evolving through the ten pages. 😛 So… yay? 😉

Love the part about adding a single random detail to the beginning of each scene, because even one detail can build an image in the reader’s mind. If the car has a soda stain on the seat, I’m already seeing an older car with cloth seats, maybe kind of trashy. 🤪

Bam. You said it. 😀 I’ve been looking forward to this article for forever and it did not disappoint. *thumbs up*

I really learned from this post. I’ve seen a lot of articles like ‘how to successfully kill a character’ but I really liked this one because of the tips on how to kill a character WITHOUT frustrating the reader. Thanks Brandon! 😀

Thank you Brandon for the insight into how to write a good death/kill scene. I wrote a story in which on of my main characters died and so when I just read your post I tried to see if my character’s death did what it should. I think that it did, but we’ll see when it gets published. (hope my story death will be moving and won’t cause riots) 🙂

Hi Kendra, I’m totally with you in regards to Where The Red Fern Grows. Man! That book just gets you. You’re touched by the dogs love for Billy and their sacrifice and deaths just gets you in the heart.

Oh my, every day? I’m honored. I hope it didn’t disappoint.
As for can you never bring some one back to life? Well I mean… you can………

The problem with bringing a character to life is two-fold. First off, you will lose your reader’s trust. They won’t believe anything that goes bad is actually bad after someone comes back to life. That can be avoided if you put a heavy price on the resurrection. For example, I recently read a book where a girl’s seriously friend-zoned friend was dying and asked her to marry him. She said yes in the moment, knowing that he was going to be gone in a minute. In the end he survived (magic and stuff, yo) and that was a heavy price for the character.
The other issue though is that your reader will say goodbye to a character when they die, and reestablishing contact will be difficult for them. I don’t know of a good solution for that, but it will help to shorten the time between “death” and bringing the character back.

“In most modern media, being a main character is a free ticket through the story.”
…and then there’s the BBC… Guard your family! Hide your pets! *ominous announcer voice* No one is safe…

As for the new romance thing…YES, it is *so* unrealistic when a character’s love-of-my-life dies and then suddenly they’ve found true love again and everything is peachy. I don’t know that they have to become a loner, although some characters certainly would, but there should at least be a huge amount of conflict that results if a new potential love interest comes on the scene. Bad timing, bittersweet memories, still being in love with the person they lost, etc. make for great plot tools.

Great article!

WHAT?!??! Sandrina, you appear EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for this post!! I’ve thought of murdering a character but I’ve been apprehensive because I didn’t want to enrage readers. Now I know how!!!!

YES. ESPECIALLY the Easily Replaced Love Interest (@BBCRobinHood)
that is the worst

Wow! This told me more than how to write a death and not lose readers! It also told me not to give my MC another love interest, which I was contemplating. Full story is, her lover dies and sI was trying to decide whether to give her another interest, although her first one was perfect for her, or not, because her lover was the ONE for her. Now I know what to do. : ) Thanks, Brandon!!

W.O.W. So helpful! Very well done, Mr. Miller! I have been struggling with deciding how many characters should die and when without going with “Kill them all! *maniacal laughter*” or “NO!! THEY CAN’T DIE!! *hysterical sobs*” Trying to find an easy middle isn’t that easy. XD But this will certainly help! Definitely getting bookmarked. 😉