I have a question about a character. It is someone who appears briefly in one chapter. Here is what I know about him. He is about the same age as our hero. They are both college students. This character and those around him do not recognize that he is severely depressed. He will commit suicide shortly after his appearance in the novel. That suicide will cause a change in our hero’s life.
I am unsure how to portray that character such that the reader looking back, will say to themselves, I should’ve seen how depressed he was. My current idea is that a group of friends are going on an outing. Despite their encouragement, he refuses their invitation. There is a brief discussion that he hasn’t gone with them for quite a while.
Do you think that’s enough?
2 Responses
I think it would help the reader to read throughout and leading up to the suicide that he declines invitations even if one had them on the phone and he says he’s just not feeling up to it, but you go, I’ll go next time and next time never comes.
Thank you!