Jenny's+Response

Neil Gaiman’s Rules Rule: 8

When I had first started writing I had always been afraid to kill off my characters. I also absolutely hated putting an end to any chapters in my books. Fear

caused me to avoid going past the threshold of “normalcy”. I discovered the reason that I didn’t want to kill my characters is because as my characters

progressed, I progressed with them. I couldn’t even fathom the thought of letting something bad happen to them, and I didn’t want my other characters to

suffer for their losses. As I’ve gotten older, I have acknowledged that certain individuals may think that my stories are overzealous. That’s when I realized,

writing that way is almost always the best way to write a book as well as the most fun. It was as if chains were being wrapped around my writing abilities

and what I actually dreamt of writing about.

Overcoming this habit wasn’t actually as hard as I’d imagined it’d be. I made the realization that killing the characters can be an amazing thing. It is a great

way to show people that they are emotionally invested in my book. It is also very excellent way to create a plot twist. The experiences I’ve had when

reading books greatly influences how I write. I loved when I would find myself smiling, laughing, crying, or upset about what was going on in the story-line. I

began writing my stories as I’d like to read them.

Breaking this habit was the best thing I could have ever done with my writing, it made my story more rich, and dramatic at proper times. I follow the eighth

rule of Neil Gaiman very closely because it has been a key part of my growth as a writer.