Yes, I think that's the theory behind Dead Dog stories, although clearly in practice it doesn't work for a lot of people! I was going to say "I think it's often a bad idea for a story to climax in a death," but then you have something like Charlotte's Web, which absolutely does put Charlotte's death near the end, and it works... I realize Charlotte is a spider, not a dog, but a very PERSONABLE spider, so I don't think it's the species difference that makes her death more acceptable to readers.
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Date: 2021-09-23 03:33 pm (UTC)