Hey! Surpise! IT is a horror story that involves death, scarring memories, and grief! If you are planning on killing someone off, and writing your character (or anyone's) feelings afterwards, make sure you do it right!

Grief and Mourning are not quick, easy processes. The average time is anywhere between 6 months to 2 years. So, sorry, if the person who died meant anything to others, they won't get over it quickly and easily.

The stages of grief are as follows:
–Denial:
If your character doesn't see the death personally, this stage will be more prominent. This stage comes with numbness, shock, disbelief, and possibly no tears. The griever will often deny the possibility of the character being dead, saying things like "this can't be happening." or "this is not happening." They can also convince themselves that everything that's happened is just a nightmare, and isn't real.

–Anger:
The griever feels betrayed or abandoned. They will blame themselves, others, or even the deceased character. In this, they are often seen placing the blame, saying things like "it's my fault!" Or "it's your fault! You could've stopped this!"

–bargaining:
This stage can be hard to pin-point. It's often the griever trying to bargain and reason for the characters death. If they are religious, they often pray for the character to come back. They feel a guilt, and a need for everything to turn back to how it used to be. It can also be used as the griever trying to reason why the deceased died, and why it had to happen.

–depression:
This is when the loss really settles in. The terrible sadness, isolation, heaviness all surrounds the griever. They may develop clinical depression, or they may just feel very sad. This stage is often the hardest and people around the griever will be unsure of what to do, and be uncomfortable.

–acceptance:
The last stage of Grief comes in acceptance. Although the death still lays heavy on the griever, they learn to internalize it, deal with it effectively, and move on. Not from the person themselves, but from the weight that was pulling them down.

These stages often loop around and repeat, or come in different lengths considering the characters mental state, their relationship with the deceased. Every person grieves differently, so don't feel chained by this order or these stages.

MORE USEFUL TIPS!

–Make sure your character changes throughout the process, as no one goes through that without some change.

–Kissing, sex, and love are not magical cure all's for grief!!!! An already sexual character may turn to sex as a distraction, but it will not fully heal them or take away from their grief.

–death makes people awkward. Characters who aren't grieving as much, or to the extent as another character feel scared to say or do the wrong things. They won't know how to treat the griever.

–remember! "Grief does not change you, it reveals you." A very strong and powerful character can become small. A often small and quiet character can become a rock and a shoulder to cry on.

I hoped you found this helpful!

(paola)