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I'm kind of incredibly stuck on a character that experiences a big loss. I've been through the experience of losing a loved one, but never quite as suddenly as the character I'm writing. 

In your opinion/experience, how would a younger girl (maybe 13) react to a tragic loss in a situation where they don't have time to grieve? And when they do have the time, how would they unload the burden?

  Well, that's a very vague description for your character. I'll do my best to answer with the information given, however. 

  Assuming the girl is now on her own, it's possible to assume that:

A) The girl, with the shock of sudden loss and stress of the situation (you said she doesn't have time), will possible begin to shutdown either emotionally, logically, or even physically. It is possible for a combination of the three to happen as well.

B) The girl might, if she has a very strong personality, force herself to continue on living or doing whatever task she had set out to do and then grieve later.

  Speaking of grieving later, that brings us to the next part of your question. Again, I will state that, with the lack of information, the only answers I can give you are terrible. With situation A she might never actually come to accept the loss on her own. In this case, the only way to solve this would be to introduce another character (possibly an old friend of the girl) that can help the girl come to terms with reality. With situation B, however, it would be a lot simpler. The girl will slowly come to accept that her friend (or parent, or sibling, or partner, etc...) is truly gone and you can move the story along to it's normal pace.

  Sorry if I'm not much help. I love to answer these types of questions, though. So, if you need any more help, just ask!

—Jack

@Sethaniel

This belongs in the Writing Workshop.

technically, but the lounge desc. says:

 

A place to sit back, hang out, and talk about anything you'd like.

 More specifically:

anything you'd like.

Let's think about this for a moment. I think it says anything. What about you?

Because she asked for suggestions to a story, it belongs in WW.

I know... But the description for the lounge really should be changed if you don't want people talking about anything they like.

True, true.

Being stupid again. The lounge is for anything you'd like, yes, but if you read the rules "This area is for all the topics that don't seem to have a place under the other topics." Not to mention that generally, when you see different areas, the assumption is that the place designated for your topic is where you should post something, and only post in the area for everything if it doesn't fit anywhere else.

  I know. I was trolling, while also somewhat trying to make a point. I just think the description should be changed to avoid confusion.

I don't think so. Both descriptions clearly state that the WW is for writing work, and that this is a place for general conversation. what is to change?

Nothing. I guess.

I didn't realize I was posting in the Lounge, honestly. I'm new and got lost in the questions of the lounge, and on impulse typed the question. I'd take it down if I knew how. :/

No worries, a mod can move it fairly easily. 

Done.

Having reacted to a sudden loss at 12 or so, (Although I am a guy and kinda did have time to grieve) the thing I remember most is just getting washed over with all the guilt and regret I had that related to that person and getting choked up for minutes at a time. But I don't know what qualifies as "grieving" or "unloading", since I usually just deal with pain (physical and mental) by waiting until shit stops hurting. If your character is more sentimental, you're probably better off having them not do this.

This answer might sound trite, but it is not:

She would react how you want her to react in your story.

Seriously.

The story is your story, and you can tell it any way you want. As you build your character, ask your character how she would react. Is she strong and independent? Maybe she would react with anger and action. Is she withdrawn and quiet? Maybe she would react by being more withdrawn. Is she driven and focused? Maybe she would react by being even more driven, or by completely losing focus.

In other words, it doesn't really matter how anyone else would react, and it doesn't matter how any person in the world would react. The only thing that matters is how your character would react, so there isn't any "right" answer. I would guess that this is a significant part of your story -- so where is the story going? Why is this part of the story? Does this action move the story forward? If it doesn't, maybe it really doesn't matter how she reacts. If it does move the story, then the story will decide how she reacts.

Hope that helps some...