I need help with my story?

Question

I have a character who dies in the beginning of my story but I need a reason for her to be killed/commit suicide.

The original reason was because her father is the Irish Mafia boss..I know it's cliche, which is exactly why I want to change it. Thanks so much.

Answer 1

It kind of depends on a few things.  

1.) Was she killed or was did she commit suicide?

2.) Do you want the reader to know which one it was or is there going to be a twist where it looks like one but was actually the opposite?

I'll start with the second and you can decide which spin to take on it.

Car accident, she was run off the edge of a cliff.  This could look like foul play but if you set it up at late night/early morning it could work that it was one of there ways.  The way to do this where you can later add a twist is by having it appear to have been a tragic accident.  She fell asleep behind the wheel.  She swerved to miss a deer or some other animal.  The first could be used to cover up a suicide, and the second would explain another vehicle's involvement.

Another way she could have died would be overdose, which would fit under suicide.

Or for the murder option, it could be a case of domestic violence gone bad.  Her boyfriend beat her to death.  He was abusive and had been for sometime, but she always found excuses for him.  She hid the bruises and kept telling herself that it was her fault until finally she couldn't take it any more.  So she tells him that she doesn't want to see him anymore and he loses control.  He starts by beating her with his fists and then sees the hunting knife on his dresser.  The situation escalates and the result is her death.  He tries to cover it up and make it look like someone broke into his room and she was waiting there to surprise him.  Or something along those lines.  Unfortunately there are a lot of domestic violence issues with teens as well as adults so this could really happen and it's not cliche

Answer 2

I've got an idea (if this is a gruesome book). Turns out the person she thought was her father was actually the man who killed her actual father and raped her mother. In a fit of guilt he took her on (when she was 3 months old) and she's been none the wiser. A very gruesome idea I'll admit though.  

Answer 3

When you say "Irish Mafia", do you mean the IRA?

If you can add some details about her I will think about it and get back to you.

Answer 4

How about she just found out that she has brain cancer (dramatic)..

Or if you wanna make it stupid, she finds out her dad is actually a giraffe (rather than an irish mafia boss)

Answer 5

Don't get into some convoluted "who is my daddy - he raped my mommy" plot line - its been done to death. Most recently coming to mind is "Sweeny Todd."

What you need to ask yourself is what manner of death would cause the story you want to tell? Here is something fun to do: get a bunch of writer or actor friends in a room and pretend you are the character. Don't tell them anything about who you are pretending to be. Have them ask the character questions - any questions they want. After several minutes the character will surface and SHE will be answering the questions. SHE will tell you why she died. Sounds strange, but it works.

This reminds me of "A Christmas Carol." The first line is: "Old Marley was as dead as a doornail." We don't actually meet Marley till later, and I think we can agree that if he hadn't died there would have been no story. There is definitely a very good reason Dickens killed off poor Marley.

PS - People hate it when the main character dies - look at "All Quiet on the Western Front." I was so mad at that ending I chucked across my high school English classroom in the middle of class and have never read it a second time. Couldn't get rid of it fast enough.

Answer 6

Because she robbed someone ??? personally i would go for cancer or something but i sort of need more details she could commit suicide because nno one pays attention to her and she is depressed