Okay, let's look at death in writing. People have a lot to say on the subject. Things like, it's necessary, it makes more meaning, it motivates a character into action, it wouldn't have been as powerful if so-and-so hadn't died. Blah-blah-blah.... These are true, and so if the scene calls for it, I say enjoy it. Your character isn't actually real. BUT, is death the end all and be all of a good story? No, it isn't. Are you overusing it? You better put on the brakes and check. Are other writers overusing it? Definitely. Some death scenes are so plot and forced that it's ridiculous. If writing has no rules, then why is everyone making it a rule to kill off characters? And why do most kill off only one gender: the man? A writer who wants to use death to make it real should know that Death doesn't differentiate between age and gender. It catches children, men and women. It comes for animals all the time, too. It will eventually come for the writer trying to p...