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mary rosenblum
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Hello all.
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mary rosenblum
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Welcome to our Tuesday Forum.
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mary rosenblum
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I hope you all had a fine
weekend and got lots of writing done.
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mary rosenblum
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I had a request for this
topic, and it's a good one.
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mary rosenblum
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Sometimes, as you work your
way through a story...and almost always when you're writing a novel length
work...you'll find that you can end your story in various ways.
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mary rosenblum
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And you have to make a choice.
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mary rosenblum
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That can be tough, especially
when you're yet unpublished and don't have the self confidence you'll have
after multiple sales and fan feedback.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about alternate endings. If you're new here, remember that you need
to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can also
type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach me.
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mary rosenblum
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The only really necessary
consideration is...what is your major conflict?
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mary rosenblum
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Your ending really does need
to wrap up your central conflict or your readers will feel dissatisfied...
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mary rosenblum
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and you may lose some if your
next book is years in coming out.
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mary rosenblum
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As for short stories, you
really need to wrap up that central conflict most of the time.
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mary rosenblum
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Certainly in most genres, an
'open' ending is not appreciated and editors know this.
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mary rosenblum
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The literary/experimental end
of the spectrum is a different story, but that is an entirely separate
universe.
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mary rosenblum
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And it is not that uncommon
for a novice writer not to realize what the central conflict really is. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Much of the time, you begin
with an external conflict, but if you're creating powerful characters...
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mary rosenblum
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you can end up with an
internal conflict that overshadows your external conflict.
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mary rosenblum
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Then you have a story where
you need to resolve the internal conflict for sure.
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mary rosenblum
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And if you don't realize it,
you can leave it open.
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mary rosenblum
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I remember many times when it
was only as I was working on revisions that I realized that my character
conflict could far outweigh my external conflict. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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It took me quite a bit of
practice to really know what I was writing on multiple levels by the end of
the first draft.
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andi
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Mary sent an e-mail to the Dog
and Kennel about fiction stories they sent back they said they publish
fiction rarely does that mean i sent mine if they like it they would
publish it?
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, and that was nice of them
to tell you, Andi.
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mary rosenblum
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They published the very nice
fiction stories of two of my students so far. :-)
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lore alley
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oh that's such a relief! I'm
terrible at realizing what the strongest conflict is... nice to know I'm
not totally incompetent :-D
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mary rosenblum
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Oh, gosh no!
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mary rosenblum
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Nearly everybody starts out
writing what 'feels right' rather than putting a story together with
knowlege aforethought! :-) As you gain more experience with how fiction
works and...d
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mary rosenblum
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does not work...and that
really only comes from reader feedback...then you get better at doing...
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mary rosenblum
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intentionally what you start
out doing by sort of fumbling around with an idea.
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mary rosenblum
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I did SO much fumbling! I
remember how many times I'd be close to the end of a story, really
dissatisfied with how it was going, and suddenly realize I had the wrong
central conflict...
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mary rosenblum
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that a stronger one...a MUCH
stronger one...was staring me in the face all the time!
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mary rosenblum
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Now I tend to hold off on
writing the story until I've twisted, turned, flipped over, rooted around
in, and generally shredded and reassembled my original story ideas.
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mary rosenblum
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So I usually know where
I"m going NOW. But I have had the benefit of years and years of LOTS
of reader feedback, from my many many wonderful critquers and my readers in
the general public.
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biffy
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can you give an example?
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mary rosenblum
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Let's see...Well, I started a
novelette titled Waterbringer many years ago, the first of my 'Drylands
stories' (and one that should be republished with the novel it's connected
to in the next year or so)...
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mary rosenblum
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and wrote it through all the
way to the end, focusing on a young boy with a disability and a man who was
a bit of a crook.
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mary rosenblum
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And I had a couple of
different endings in mind, and neither of them worked.
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mary rosenblum
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The story was just kind of
wishy washy. Long on milieu short on strong story.
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mary rosenblum
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And one night in the wee
hours, I realized I had the wrong story.
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mary rosenblum
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The strongest conflict, which
I was TOTALLY ignoring, was between this kid and his father, whom he
thought looked down on him for his limitations.
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mary rosenblum
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And once I reorganized the
story to focus on that, it WORKED. That story has been republished many
times, and eventually netted me about as much as a novel advance.
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mary rosenblum
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Sometimes, if you can't find
an ending that works, the real issue is that you haven't realized what your
real central conflict is.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about alternate endings. If you're new here, remember that you need
to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can also
type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach me.
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lore alley
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so what DO you do when you want
your character to become a missionary but find out while plotting that he
dies instead... I was SO annoyed when I found that out. do I insist on my
original happy story? or should I let it flow where it will?
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mary rosenblum
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WEll, you're in charge, Lore,
not your character.
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mary rosenblum
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If it doesn't work to have him
die, then don't let him die and see how he realistically handles the
situation.
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mary rosenblum
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It could be that you've
created a character who simply cannot work in your plot.
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mary rosenblum
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I've certainly been guilty of
doing that and it's a PAIN in the backside to start over with a new
character or change the plot.
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mary rosenblum
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But you certainly don't have
to kill him off. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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You DO have to live with his
behavior if you let him live and maybe he's not the right character for
this plot.
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lore alley
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oh it's not that he doesn't
work... I think I inadvertantly switched the story from his to his
brother's and it would work better with the brother's story for him to die
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mary rosenblum
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Well, there you go.
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mary rosenblum
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And what may be happening here
is that you simply had the wrong main character for your story.
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mary rosenblum
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In the one I was just
referring to, Waterbringer, I started with the adult character...an
itinerant surveyor...as the POV.
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mary rosenblum
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But when I realized I was
barking up the wrong conflict, I switched to Jeremy's POV.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about alternate endings. If you're new here, remember that you need
to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can also
type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach me.
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lore alley
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it's all such a confusing
muddle. I think that's why I have a hard time with endings. I don't know
what the story is in the first place
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mary rosenblum
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That's not all than uncommon,
especially when you begin with a plot.
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mary rosenblum
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Usually, these days, if I
start with the character and conflict I am fine, but when I start with a
plot in mind, I spend a lot more time...
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mary rosenblum
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figuring out what my story is.
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mary rosenblum
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Try playing with that story
for awhile and see if you don't have an 'aha' moment...
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mary rosenblum
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where you realize this is a
dynamite version.
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pook
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I base it on real life and seem
reluctant to end it fictionally.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, that's pretty normal,
pook.
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mary rosenblum
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In real life, those events
evolved a certain way because of the people involved...
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mary rosenblum
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and if you change the
resolution, that may be 'wrong' for those particular characters.
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mary rosenblum
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That's why I either tell real
stories or made up stories, but I don't try to blend the two.
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pook
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sometimes the real life ending
isn't interesting enough - or nothing happened.
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mary rosenblum
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And unfortunately, that may be
the only way it's going to have ended, given those particular characters.
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mary rosenblum
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Remember...the ending is not
random.
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mary rosenblum
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It is forecast from the very
first paragraph, because these characters could make no other choice, given
the external events.
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mary rosenblum
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Or rather, they have a
specific subset of choices that they must choose between, and who they are
determines which choice they make.
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mary rosenblum
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And if your characters are
well developed so that the choice makes sense to your readers' very
experience hindbrains....they act realistically in other words...
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mary rosenblum
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then your ending is the right
one and satisfies.
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mary rosenblum
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That doesn't mean you can't
surprise the reader with your ending.
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mary rosenblum
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I'm not saying it should be
obvious.
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mary rosenblum
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But readers should be able to
say, 'oh, of course, she'd do that. I can see it now'.
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lore alley
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I always start with characters.
I just can't figure out their conflict... okay I'm done whining... lol
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mary rosenblum
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Well, Lore, GIVE them a conflict
before you start!
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mary rosenblum
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Think about those characters.
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mary rosenblum
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What makes this person
unhappy, not likely to succeed in life, unable to love or be loved, unable
to succeed?
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mary rosenblum
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Then use that character flaw
to come up with events so that your character is forced to confront that
weakness.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about alternate endings. If you're new here, remember that you need
to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can also
type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach me.
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janecj333
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In real life, good often results
from traumatic situations. In fiction, however, the author can have the
very worst happen, and that leads to drama.
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mary rosenblum
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But most of the time, it leads
to good in the end. And often, the traumatic event might result in external
'good' but really connect 'head on' with that character's internal flaw...
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mary rosenblum
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creating internal drama,
rather than external drama.
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christopherdale
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In my novel I had to rewrite the
beginning because I realized I had blown the timeline... OOPS! SO I write
out the entire timeline and finished it ... THis was NOT heending I had
envisioned, or what my critiquers expected, but they liked it a lot bett
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah, often the end you plan
is not the end up reach. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Many of my stories...certainly
more than half...have ends I didn't envision when I roughed out the story
in my head...
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mary rosenblum
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but the ending became obvious
only after I had created all my characters fully and really integrated the
various...
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mary rosenblum
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subtexts.
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mary rosenblum
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The ending of the upcoming
novel changed dramatically, actually. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Even short story ends change,
depending on what you 'unearth' as you write the story and flesh out the
characters.
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mary rosenblum
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So much of the strength of
most fiction stories depends on the characters, that it's really hard to
follow the plot you first envisioned at times.
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mary rosenblum
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As your characters grow, they
complicate things.
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christopherdale
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my characters just didn't like
the way I envisioned it so they actually helped me write the newer ending -
Hope that doesn't ake me sound crazier than I am... :)
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mary rosenblum
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Well, I'm always going to roll
my eyes at novice writers who want their characters to run the show or talk
like they're alive. :-) But essentially what you are saying, is that by the
time...
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mary rosenblum
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your characters were fully
developed, you had to create a new ending in order for the story to work.
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pook
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steven king says let the
characters tell the story.
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mary rosenblum
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Your characters have to tell
the story, but it's YOUR job to create a character who can tell the story
you need.
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mary rosenblum
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Then you let them tell it
their way, and adjust your plot to suit 'em.
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mary rosenblum
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I just kind of object to the
'my character is alive' talk because so many novice writers use it as an
excuse for a story that doesn't work.
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mary rosenblum
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If the characters need a new
plot, make one that works for them. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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But YOU the author are in
charge, not the characters.
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mary rosenblum
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Fire 'em if you want to tell
THIS story and they won't fit it. Give them their own story. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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I've done that. Several of my
'fired' characters ended up in very nice short stories, created so I could
use 'em.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about alternate endings. If you're new here, remember that you need
to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can also
type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach me.
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pook
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in real life the ending isn't
always happy - the criminal doesnt always get caught, innocent people get
hurt. in fiction it seems if you dont have a happy ending it won't be read
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mary rosenblum
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That's not entirely true,
pook.
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mary rosenblum
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While it's true that a story
that leaves readers seriously considering suicide is not likely to sell
well...
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mary rosenblum
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readers mostly DO want to be
entertained after all and life is FULL of depressing realities...
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mary rosenblum
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I have had a pretty successful
career and very few of my endings are 'happy endings'.
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mary rosenblum
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They tend to be 'gray'
endings, with some good and some not so good.
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mary rosenblum
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But remember...the readers
need to get something out of your story that makes them feel satisfied.
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mary rosenblum
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They can wake up at two am and
lie awake thinking about some of the little dark truths you slipped into
that story...
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mary rosenblum
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but you've also given them
people to care about and scenes that engaged them.
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mary rosenblum
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YOu didn't beat them with a
stick from paragraph one to the end!
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pook
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suppose the criminal deosn't get
caught
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mary rosenblum
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Happens.
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mary rosenblum
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Something in the story works
and balances that.
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mary rosenblum
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Maybe two lonely characters
are brought together.
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mary rosenblum
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The killer escapes, justice is
not done, but these two people won't be as lonely hereafter.
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paminnapa
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hannibal lector:)
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah, Silence of the
Lambs...which is MUCH darker than the movie...is a prime example of a
downbeat book...but it's really...
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mary rosenblum
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part of the horror genre and
that is much more customary there.
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mary rosenblum
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It simply got mainstreamed
because it was so popular...because he did such a strong job...
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mary rosenblum
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creating a truely
frighteningly real psychopath.
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paminnapa
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i like stories occasionally that
dont end the way i "want' them too. "Beaches, Philedelphia, those
were MC end up dying....." I also like to be left hanging in a
suspense......wondering what the bad guy is going to do next....
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mary rosenblum
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And look at Love Story. I
think it came out around 1970...was a bestseller, box office hit as a
movie...and the more empathetic of the two MCs dies.
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mary rosenblum
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But some good balances it as
father and son finally reconcile.
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christopherdale
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For me to see my characters, in
the beginning, I visualized real actors playing the parts so I couldget a
feel for theiractions in my head. Once I had that, and could see their
movements and other attributes, it became easier to write. I didn't
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christopherdale
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feel like I was struggling to
see them clearly in my mind) and the story could flow from there...
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christopherdale
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Now if Icouldjust get those
sameactors to play the part in the movies... ;)
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mary rosenblum
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LOL Chris, whatever works! Just
pick good actors for your stories! :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Actually, I don't start
writing until I can see my character.
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mary rosenblum
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Which means I will probably
never want to go see a story of mine if it ever makes it to the big screen.
LOL
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mary rosenblum
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I'll hate whomever they cast
for the parts.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about alternate endings. If you're new here, remember that you need
to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can also
type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach me.
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mary rosenblum
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It's actually not a bad idea
to see if you can't come up with an alternative ending for your story.
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mary rosenblum
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Sometimes, by creating an ending
you hadn't planned on, you can suddenly see your story in a whole new
light.
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mary rosenblum
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Most of the time, the one you
first thought of is probably the best one.
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mary rosenblum
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But once in awhile, you can
surprise yourself with a much stronger and different story.
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mary rosenblum
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The more you can allow
yourself to twist, turn, play with, and distort your original story idea...
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mary rosenblum
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the more likely you are to
find the best version of that original idea.
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janecj333
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Don't you suppose that in every
story the internal conflict boils down to how the pov character will fare?
The pov wonders, what will happen to ME if things keep going the way they
are?
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mary rosenblum
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Not necessarily, Jane.
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mary rosenblum
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Quite often, the internal
conflict is something that the MC is never aware of, and only the readers
realize that something has been resolved.
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mary rosenblum
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It can be something that
happens to the MC in spite of herself. :-) And if you're really lucky,
you'll find a way...
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mary rosenblum
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to make the MC unhappy about
what happens, and only the readers realize this is actually a good thing.
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mary rosenblum
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I really try hard not to let
my characters be aware of what they need to 'fix' and they generally work
hard NOT to fix it. :-)
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lore alley
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so, ending a story
"correctly" is as simple as fulfilling the strongest conflict?
and to get the ending that you really want, you just need to pick the
correct conflict and characters?
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mary rosenblum
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You know, lore, it's really
more than that.
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mary rosenblum
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It is mostly necessary to
resolve that central conflict, but you can usually do that in one of
several ways.
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mary rosenblum
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The best ending is the one
that 'feels' right to you.
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mary rosenblum
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I know this is vague, but
writing good fiction is not something you can do with a recipe, like baking
cookies.
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mary rosenblum
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It's not a matter of so many
positive scenes, so many 'setback' scenes, this climax here, not resolve
the central conflict and ta da you're done.
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mary rosenblum
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now...not not, sigh.
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mary rosenblum
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The 'best' ending is the one
that satisfies you and your readers the most.
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mary rosenblum
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And that will include a host
of small reasons, not just the central conflict resolution.
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mary rosenblum
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It's a matter of what feels
best to you.
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lore alley
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starts feeling her various
endings... poking them like bread to see which is freshest ;-)
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mary rosenblum
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That's about it. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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It's still very subjective to
me. I try an ending. Okay, that works. I'm not STUNNED by it. So I try
another. Okay, that works. Ho hum...
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mary rosenblum
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try another. Wow!!!! Okay,
that's it!
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mary rosenblum
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And all three endings will
resolve the central conflict, but one just FEELS right.
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janecj333
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You mean, to put stumbling
blocks in their path, give the reader multiple and building conflicts, make
the characters be resourceful.
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mary rosenblum
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Yes...those are all part of
good fiction, but it is a mistake to feel that there is a 'recipe' to using
them...
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mary rosenblum
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and some books on writing will
give you recipes! Ignore them.
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mary rosenblum
|
This is the Tuesday Forum with
me Mary Rosenblum LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. We're
talking about alternate endings. If you're new here, remember that you need
to click on the Ask a Question button or the word bubble next to the red
question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a question icon in
order to ask a question. Your regular send bar won't reach me! You can also
type /ask in front of your question in your regular send bar to reach me.
|
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pook
|
In Silence -Lambs - what is the
central conflict? the murders? not the 2 main characters? and it is
resolved because they catch him?
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mary rosenblum
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It's in thriller form, Pook,
and the driving external conflict is a missing girl. They have to find her
before she is killed by the serial killer..
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mary rosenblum
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who snatched her, and they
need the help of Hannibal Lecter, super psychopath.
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mary rosenblum
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And the strength of the book
is that it's a psychological study of the various characters, especially
the female investigator and Lecter.
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mary rosenblum
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Their interactions drive the
very strong internal plot.
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janecj333
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Well, if characters are aware of
their own faults and mistakes and plunge headlong through the story
correcting those without any detours, that makes for boring story.
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mary rosenblum
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Of course. But what I mean by
'recipe' is that some books will give you just that...
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mary rosenblum
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a recipe. You must start out
with a setback, then allow the MC a small success, then alternate this
sequence twice more, now add a climax scene, now resolve your loose ends.
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mary rosenblum
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Bleah!
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kems
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I have found that trying to
follow a 'recipe' always sucks the creativity out of me. All those books
out there that offer guidelines to making a novel, would you say they are
not worth the money? Just follow the basic rules and use your muse?
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mary rosenblum
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I say they are more than not
worth your money kems.
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mary rosenblum
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I have worked iwth a lot of
novice writers...well into the thousands by now. One thing I learned long
ago...
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mary rosenblum
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is that you can tell a story
in an infinite number of ways and make it work...
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mary rosenblum
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and some of those ways are the
'don't do this' type.
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mary rosenblum
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Now that does not mean that
you can break the rules and your story will succeed.
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mary rosenblum
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Those 'rules' just mean that
it's a WHOLE lot easier to succeed this way than some other way.
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mary rosenblum
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But that also does not mean
that if stick to the 'rules' carefully you will succeed. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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So I feel that the writing
plans that offer you a template really limit your creativity.
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geezer
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What would you say the strong
point of the LR novel course is?
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mary rosenblum
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That you get to work with
someone who has experience with novel...
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mary rosenblum
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who can help you see the
'beginner mistakes' that might take you three or four books to figure out
on your own...
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mary rosenblum
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so that you learn more about
how to write a good novel with this one novel than you'd probably learn in
two or three novels on your own...or even more.
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mary rosenblum
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Really good writing courses
simply save you a million words or so of practice time as you fumble your
way to the same skills...
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mary rosenblum
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and shortcut the time it takes
you to begin to write really good work.
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mary rosenblum
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Pretty much everybody makes
the same mistakes and has the same problems at first.
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mary rosenblum
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And you get some expert
evaluation in terms of your own strengths, too.
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mary rosenblum
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That helps when you get those
rejection slips. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Again, as to endings, do try
more than one ending.
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mary rosenblum
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If they don't work, they
don't, but by asking yourself 'what if this happened...what if that
happened? and figuring out how the story would...
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mary rosenblum
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need to change in order to
make this ending work, you just might discover a more powerful version of
this story...
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mary rosenblum
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and if they're all weaker than
your original ending, then great! You had the right ending in mind already.
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mary rosenblum
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Tolkein, I"m not sure why
your question didn't come through up here.
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mary rosenblum
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Hmm...let me paraphrase it for
the transcripts.
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janecj333
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I sure worry about taking
shortcuts in learning to write right
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mary rosenblum
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Shortcut is time only, Jane.
:-) You can learn to do really powerful characters in six months with good
feedback, or you can take six years, just trying it on your own. Result is
the same.
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mary rosenblum
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Tolkien asked about a large,
overarching plot for a three book series...
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mary rosenblum
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where although two of the
original three Villains are dealt with, one is left at the end... The
question is...
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mary rosenblum
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will that work for readers?
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mary rosenblum
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Sure, Tolkien, you MAKE it
work.
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mary rosenblum
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If your characters in each
book succeed in what they need to suceed in, then your ends will satisfy
the readers.
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mary rosenblum
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They may never succeed in
dealing with that evil dude, but if that is not the central conflict in any
of the books...
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mary rosenblum
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if it is part of larger issues
that may or may not be settled, you won't leave your readers feeling
dissatisfied..
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mary rosenblum
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but of course, you can pick
the series up again.
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mary rosenblum
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If it IS the central conflict
of that final book, you can still have the characters fail in what they
attempt to do.
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mary rosenblum
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They don't ALWAYS have to
succeed. :-)
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christopherdale
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Kill Bil (Volumes 1 and 2) as
exampleof what Mary was just saying,,
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mary rosenblum
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Dunno, havn't read it. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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I'll take your word for it.
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janecj333
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and wonder if over-confidence
does young writers (coming out of MFA programs and etc.) a disservice
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mary rosenblum
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Well, I personally think MFA
programs don't help any writer unless he/she plans to write only for the
unviversity lit mags, but that's my opinion. And overconfidence abounds in
the writing world!
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mary rosenblum
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LOL
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mary rosenblum
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You HAVE to be overconfident
to even think that anybody would want to read what you write...and oh, we
all take our lumps when we start out. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Those with resilience get up
bruised and push on. Those who don't have that stubborn streak give up.
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mary rosenblum
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Nobody really can see WHY
things do and do not work when you start writing.
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mary rosenblum
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You have more or less a 'feel'
for what they should do...
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mary rosenblum
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but the 'why' you can learn,
and then you can do with more intention what you otherwise fumble around
for.
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mary rosenblum
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No, that doens't make you less
creative.
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mary rosenblum
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If anything, it allows a
greater degree of creativity, because you can push the envelope...
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mary rosenblum
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your can make things work and
then reach farther, take more risks because your foundation is solid.
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mary rosenblum
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Think of it as building a
tower.
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mary rosenblum
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The more solid the blocks
beneath you, the higher you can build it.
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janecj333
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From the complaints of
publishers about slushpiles of unpublishable work, you'd think they expect
writers to emerge fully-formed.
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mary rosenblum
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Of course they do. LOL It
would make their lives SO much easier!!!
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mary rosenblum
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And I'm sure WE wish we were
born with super craft. I sure do! I sure have sweated a lot to learn it!
I'm still working on building that tower higher. :-)
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janecj333
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Those publishers have become so
jaded toward new writers, I wonder what the solution is.
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mary rosenblum
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You're just wrong, Jane. I'm
sorry.
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mary rosenblum
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They are not, no matter what
comments get published and get media attention.
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mary rosenblum
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I know way too many real life
editors, and that just isn't the case.
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mary rosenblum
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A few published comments do
not reality make.
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mary rosenblum
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What is true is that you
really do have to have strong powerful writing to sell in the tough market
of today.
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mary rosenblum
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So the more you write, the
more feedback you get, the better you will get...
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mary rosenblum
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and the sooner you will be
published.
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geezer
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Old writers go to their final
reward, so young ones have to fill their places.
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janecj333
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Mary, I have to be honest...the
Jeff Herman book is a real education in terms of some publishers' attitudes
toward writers
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mary rosenblum
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YOiu need to take every single
voice with a grain of salt.
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mary rosenblum
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Agents LOVE to tell everybody
how tough it is. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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It makes us SO appreciative of
their help we gladly shell out that 15%. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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And it IS tough, but it always
has been.
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mary rosenblum
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People were saying pretty much
the same things when I was breaking in.
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mary rosenblum
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And to be honest, I worked
really hard.
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mary rosenblum
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That is part of the process.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, this has been a fun
Oregon hour.
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mary rosenblum
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The more you write, the more
you try new things, the more you get feedback from a variety of readers...
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mary rosenblum
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and think about what you're
hearing, the better you will get.
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mary rosenblum
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If you can't decide between
those two ends, make sure that you know what your central conflict really
is.
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mary rosenblum
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Don't be afraid to hold off
and worry at that story for awhile.
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mary rosenblum
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Take it to bed with you, gnaw
on it, twist it around and look at it upside down.
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mary rosenblum
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See what finally pops into
your head in the wee hours or while you're cooking dinner.
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mary rosenblum
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Have a good week all!
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mary rosenblum
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I'll post the transcripts in
the usual place...Writing Craft: Forum Transcripts.
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