Go Write That Book, Killer (Column)
When writers kill, sometimes their art imitates their life.
I know it’s been a week, but I want to say something about Succession. I won’t bother with the spoiler alerts since it dominated the media for days, but I don’t want to talk about the ending, either. Instead, I can’t get over the pivotal moment in the finale, where Shiv and Roman debate killing their brother, Kendall.
The mise-en-scene tells us that this is a possibility. It is nighttime. They are swimming in choppy waters. No one is around. We know from previous shows that someone sometimes dies and it’s inconvenient for business — in fact, Shiv brings up Kendall’s past in the last few moments. We know in this world, human life comes with a price tag.
For me, it was one the most captivating moments in the season finale because for a second, I thought, wait, could this actually happen?
Killing characters can be somewhat controversial. It should have a point, either to drive stakes or make the reader feel something. It should make sense. It’s even better if we know the characters well and are on some level rooting for them (cue killing Kendall).
Still, from a writer’s perspective, killing off characters is hard, especially if we like them. That’s why it always surprises me when I learn that writers, even famous ones, have killed in real life. Cases in point:
Kouri Richens wrote a book on grief after her husband died, and she was then charged with his murder.
A romance novelist who wrote the book “How to Murder your Husband,” well, guess what?
A graphic novelist tortured and murdered his fiancée and mother of their child in a fashion that he had detailed in a book years before.
This story really got me, since I loved the book. Delia Owens, author of the bestseller, Where the Crawdads Sing, was called in for questioning in a murder that sounded a lot like the one in her book.
They say, write what you know, but what if you know is…deadly?
Which brings me back to Kendall. He killed, and covered up, when it was convenient for him. It makes sense to the audience that the same thing could happen to him. It was an accident, it happened and then it didn’t happen. A pregnant woman who wants to be CEO of one of the largest media conglomerates kills her brother, who is a competitor, and then rules the world, but is racked with guilt. I don’t know about you, but that’s an ending I would talk about for years to come. So go write that story, author-killers. As long as the scions of one of the big media families don’t go missing, I think you’re good.
Yours in reading and writing,
Leah Eichler
What I am Reading:
Keeping in the theme of killers, orca whales have decided that humans are a$$holes. Please discuss.
What I Am Watching:
On a lighter note, Britain’s Got Talent: Run don’t walk to watch this jaw-dropping dancer. I’d pay big bucks to see him on stage in real life.
the Delia Owens novel was sublime if somewhat contrived as per the murder sequence, even Columbo wudda been scratching his head at THAT brilliance....the movie was an utter abomination and yes deserves to be snuffed ha