Can someone please help e with something?

Question

Here's the story idea I had...

Have you ever felt like the world wouldn’t miss you if you were gone? That’s how Miranda has felt her entire life. Everyone has flocked to her twin sister, Jessica, saying she was the pretty one. Jessica was the head cheerleader, star on the girls’ basketball team, and Homecoming Queen. Jessica’s whole life has been about being the best rather it be in beauty pageants or on the court.

Miranda is the total opposite. Unlike Jessica, Miranda doesn’t play sports. It’s not that Miranda doesn’t know how to play sports, because she does, she just chooses not to. Miranda is happy being out of the public eye.

Things take a turn when Jessica dies. Miranda can no longer stay under the radar with everyone watching her at school. Miranda has to stay strong and hold everything together while her life falls apart.

My question is when would be a good time to have Jessica die...Is chapter three too soon?

The story is mainly going to be about Miranda's struggle with Jessica's death and with her mother blaming Miranda for not stopping Jessica.

Answer 1

Okay, to begin with, just how many pages are there before you bring in the death scene? Have you given enough thought to character development and making the sisters really stand out in this story? Normally when I write something, I like to have one of my friends or family members read what I've made, and then see if they cry on the parts that are supposed to be sad or see if they have little to no emotion in areas that are supposed to be extremely emotional. Because through that you can tell if Jessica should die by the time chapter three comes around: if your reader can cry by then, you have achieved turning your character into someone memorable, a part of the story that will make everything that happens afterward extremely emotional like it should be when making a story such as this one. If they can't cry by chapter three, then you should either wait longer for when Jessica is a strong element that will carry the story onward even after she's gone... Or you should go back and add details and scenes that will turn Jessica into a mortar once she dies on chapter three.



All-in-all, this is something that can't be answered to the fullest extent by someone who hasn't read and fully gotten an understanding of your story yet. You can only come to this answer yourself once you've managed to see the results of this draft through the expressions of others when they read it. If you have no one who can read it for you, feel free to e-mail me~! I'm actually a Creative Writing College Major and have nearly finished the editing on the first book of a series I'm writing, so if nothing else, I can certainly read it and give my help for this, because it has a nice structure and I can tell that such a story is rather promising. But if there's anything I've learned in my own writing process, it is that when making a story, you can't always expect a legit answer from someone who has never experienced the story first hand. You need to decide these things on your own. But it doesn't hurt to hear a second person's take on your story, as they might see something there that you never saw yourself.

Answer 2

It's totally up to you. Personally, I think you should have her in a bit longer than three chapters, just so we can get a proper feel of what life with both sisters is like. If we haven't experienced much of it then we won't have anything to compare it to. Maybe keep her in for about five chapters?



Or, if you wanted to go a different route, you can have it where she is already dead at the beginning of the novel and simply have flashbacks throughout. Such as, Miranda sees someone and there is a flashback of Jessica with that person, or she watches a basketball game and there is a flashback of Jessica playing basketball. This could slowly unravel Jessica's timeline and eventual death as well as dealing with the aftermath and being the twin of a dead girl, almost like she is the ghost of Jessica roaring the school halls. Of course no one will ignore her now. This way you could make Jessica's death a mystery and the climax is finding out what happened?



Good Luck!

Answer 3

You can only answer this question.

Just start writing the story and put the death in where you see fit. When you start editing and reading over..read it out loud..you will get the feel that you put the death in too soon or just in the right place.

It's a writer's inner knowledge of their own story..

Answer 4

Right away. Or closer to the middle. I read a book where someone died in the intro it depends on if you want to develop Jessica's sister or not.