How to make a character’s death sadder
- 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.
(via 411forwriting)