There are many kinds of deaths that a person can have. My method in figuring out what I want for my character is to first go through if it’s to be an accident, a natural cause, self-inflicted, or murder. To me, these are the only categories of kinds of deaths. So when I am looking at my character that needs to die in my story, I look at what kind of story I am writing. If I am writing about a murderer, well murder seems the option to go with. If I am writing about someone with a mental problem, I will probably go with self-inflicted. So knowing what kind of story you want to write makes a difference in what kind of death you want to use. After you pick a category you can then figure out what kind of death you desire within that category. Such as if you want a natural death, do you desire to write about a sickness where you may need to write about hospitals and treatments. Or do you desire something quicker like a heart attack or maybe you are looking for something different and that person could just die of old age? Things are things you have to consider when deciding what kind of death you want for your character.
Also if you are going to have multiple characters die within your book, you need to look at what will mesh well together. Such as if you are writing about some murderer, having a death by cancer may feel weird and misplaced in that novel. Choosing who and how is important in any book that is being written.
Thoughts?
