Is too many people dying in a fiction novel too melodramatic?

Answer 1

I suppose it would depend on the novel. If it is a novel about war, no. But if it is a novel about something less violent, well... yeah, you might not want the characters dropping off like flies.

Answer 2

It depends on your plot. Something that is meant to be violent, well then it's understandable. But in something else it can turn into a bloodbath rather quickly. People dying of age or different sicknesses over and over again is a bit melodramatic and it gets old really fast.

Answer 3

Not if there's a specific reason (eg. war) and not if they die at different times. Also there shouldn't be too many main characters dying as that may put off the reader. Other character deaths are ok as long as their deaths are important (and possibly change the course of the storyline because of it).

Too many deaths might make your work seem like Shakespeare's tragedies, lol.

Answer 4

The body count isn't the significant aspect, it is the context of the death that matters. A high death toll in a story is fine if it is important to the story. However, killing off people just to shock or to say "look how 'nasty' my book is" is pointless. It is sort of like the difference between porn and art, in porn, the point is the sex, while in art, sex is used to make a point.

One of my favorite books kills one of the three protagonists half way through the book. That death made the book 'real' to me because it showed the antagonist was a true threat. I have grown to hate books where the protagonist seems like (s)he is immortal or supernaturally lucky (like in Dan Brown or John Dunning books).