You can't ignore death.

It always creeps up in real life, catching up to you at some points, losing you, and when it finally does grab you, well, you are dead.

In stories and in poems... You can't just pretend that nobody is going to die in books.

It just does not work that way.

You are going to have to kill one of your characters at one point, unless you write for young children. It makes your story more heart-wrenching, if you like the character, and if you dislike the character, victory for you.

Death makes people cry.

I like making my readers cry. I like tearing their hearts out. I enjoy thinking about watching them weep about a lost character.

When you cry over a book, it makes it more memorable, instead of reading one with no deaths and violence and stuff. Just happiness. Sure, you'd prefer your line to be that way, but it just does not work. You want to believe in your characters, in your story.

See what I mean?

Death is always here. Even in books.