|
mary rosenblum
|
Hello, all.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Welcome to our Friday After
hours.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I don't know how many of you
were able to participate in our online chat with Dolph LeMoult last
night...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but his publisher was present.
:-) I had a quiet conversation with her afterward, and she will be our
guest here later this year.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They publish Young Adult
fiction in all genres, and this should be a very interesting visit. Stay
tuned.
|
|
roe
|
cool Who is it Mary
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
His publisher is Brown Barn
Books. The senior editor was present, Nancy Hammerslough.
|
|
wolf122
|
The guest talks seem to slow
down really bad when they try to answer posted questions--is that an
inherit problem in the programming or just slow typing? The prev. Thurs was
like that too.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Dolph was a slow typist, wolf.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Some guests are faster than
others, but they have to compose their replies.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sometimes a slow dial-up
connection is the problem..
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I've had a few guests that
might has well have been using carrier pigeons!
|
|
wolf122
|
Oh, sorry. Thought my computer
was crashing!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I know. I ask guests to break
up long posts, but when they type slowly or have a feeble dial-up, there's
no way to reduce that lag time...
|
|
tami74
|
that explains it...i thought
maybe she was his student
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I wanted to talk about endings
today...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
because one of the most
comment complaints I get from novice writers is...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
"I don't know how to end
it"
|
|
drakeluvr
|
What's with the chat? Sometimes
I'll write something and I won't see it appear, but know it goes through
when someone remarks on it
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Might be their connection is
faster than yours, drake.
|
|
neo
|
How do you choose guests, Mary?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I look for people who have
some experience that will help the various levels of aspiring writers who
use the site and are students, neo.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I focus on trying to expose
people to the world of publishing...something you generally only learn once
you begin to publish!
|
|
ashton
|
Hi Mary! You're talking about
endings tonight, right? I've got a question. Does the ending of a short
story or novella,ect. have to answer all the questions or do you only have
to answer and solve the main plotted question cause I'm not sure how to
leave the reader content but wanting more.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Probably THE biggest beginner
myth is that you should leave something unanswered to 'make the reader want
more'. That just doesn't work.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
What happens is that your
readers are angry at you because they want their gratification NOW, not
later.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
What will make your readers
want more is good writing.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They like the story, they love
the characters...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
if they see your name again,
they snatch up the book or magazine and read it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. We're talking about endings
tonight. I've published seven novels and more than 60 short stories and
will do my best to answer any questions you have. 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 in order to
ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask
and type your question into the regular send bar if that works better for
you
|
|
neo
|
Do you ever address nonfiction
or is this only for fiction?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I do, neo. I've done forums on
nonfiction topics and I bring in NF guests. I just write a whole lot more
fiction professionally, so I know more about it and have more contacts in
that universe.
|
|
speckledorf
|
I HATE being left hanging at the
end of a story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Most readers do. :-)
|
|
drakeluvr
|
Doesn't that all depend on how
many stories you're writing? Like the Harry Potter series?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
To some extent, but not a
large one.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Most of the successful series
tie up the main plot points in that book...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and larger overarching issues
may continue from book to book.
|
|
ashton
|
Say Mike dies in your story and
the reader knows...or thinks he knows what happened to him.....in a sequel
you could say that Mike didn't die like everyone thought...and that would
work, right
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sure.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
AS long as your end is
satisfying in book one with Mike dead.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If your end is NOT satisfying,
they may not read book two to find out they're wrong!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Never save the best until
later.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You may not have a later.
|
|
wolf122
|
Would you use a hook at the end
of say book one for the next in a trilogy? Or would you use a strong hook
in book two reminding readers of book one?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I wouldn't use a strong hook
at the end of a book wolf. It may be two years until the next installment
is out.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That leaves your readers time
to 'go flat' on that hook. Put the hook in the beginning of two and reprise
what you need to of one.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. We're talking about endings
tonight. I've published seven novels and more than 60 short stories and
will do my best to answer any questions you have. 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 in order to
ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask
and type your question into the regular send bar if that works better for
you
|
|
t green
|
Mary, I just got a note back
from an editor. She noted she was hooked at the beginning and middle, but
the end fell flat. How to fix that?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That is so common, t.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
While I can't give you my
opinion on why THIS end read flat to her, it is something that often
happens...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and mostly for a similar
reason.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The reason has to do with what
an ending does.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It is the resolution of your
conflict.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
What often happens is that the
author mis identifies the central conflict...and thus does not resolve it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And the ending is flat.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
OR, the central conflict is
resolved early...maybe in the middle of the story...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and again, the end is flat.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It is not always easy to tell
what your central conflict really is, especially when you are first starting
out.
|
|
neo
|
How did Stephen King keep many
of us hooked for years and years before he completed the Dark Tower series?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
He gave readers what they
wanted and lots kept reading...but...lots did not.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The ones who came back liked
what he wrote and were willing to wait.
|
|
whistlin_smithy
|
This reminds me of the early tv
and radio serials. Used to drive us nuts waiting to see if Superman, or the
Dark Shadow got the bad guys, etc.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yes, smithy...'cliffhangers'
were the norm then...'stay tuned'! And the hero was dangling over a deadly
precipice. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That doesn't work as well when
he or she has to dangle there for two years. LOL
|
|
ashton
|
Give each story your all, cause
in the next one you'll come up with an even better idea even if you don't
think that's possible while working on book story #1, right?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yep. And remember...it is the
way you write not what you write that brings readers back.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So don't save your 'best' for
later!
|
|
drakeluvr
|
Like in a story I'm working on,
the MC sees someone kill someone else, and then he finds out that it was
someone in disguise, and not the person he thought it was
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can do that.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I would make sure that the end
is not a bummer for your readers though.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Will they go away unhappy
because this guy seems to be dead?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
THey're not necessarily going
to read your next segment to see if they were wrong.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You run the risk of them
saying "I'll spend my money on someone else's book'.
|
|
wolf122
|
In a trilogy, every book should
be a stand alone novel, while incorporating an overal plot arc?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Most readers and editors feel
this is the best way to do it. If a reader picks up Two, they can enjoy the
story and then buy one and three...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But you do have 'slice of
sausage' series. JRR's is one.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I was loaned book two of the
trilogy first. Talk about LOST! Whew.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Mostly those are single books
that were huge and were sliced up for publishing reasons.
|
|
owlybear
|
Leaving a reader hanging would
be similar to any TV show that is usually a one hour program, but
occasionally they will make it longer and continue next week... if you're
watching with friends , everyone usually groans and in some cases cuss a
bit because the story didn't end that night, so they have to tune in again
to find out what happens...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yep...and again, the wait time
is less with TV.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
YOu lose that 'suspense' when
the wait lasts for months and years.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
A good friend of mine pretty
effectively killed her SF career...she won Hugo with a novel...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and it was VERY popular. She
then took about five years to finish the sequel.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
When it came out, her readers
had forgotten her, weren't willing to pay hardcover price any more.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
She really got clobbered in
terms of her sales figures.
|
|
starr r
|
So what DO you do when you can't
think of an ending? What's the solution?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
What you need to do is sit
back and think about your story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Ask yourself, 'what needs to
get fixed here'?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Not just in terms of your
external plot, but in terms of the internal plot, too.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You may have done one of two
things...you may have resolved the central conflict early without realizing
it...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
so that your end doesn't
really do anything.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Or you may have missed the
real central conflict in your story and not resolved it at all.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Or you may simply have no
conflict.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you don't have a strong
conflict, there's nothing really to resolve and the story just trails off.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It can take a bit of practice
before creating a strong conflict becomes second nature!
|
|
drakeluvr
|
Yikes... that I assume is why
Editors get you on schedules
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Oh, the five year thing? Well,
yeah, she had a schedule. But they really don't break your knees if you
don't turn in the book on time!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You mostly hurt yourself.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Same thing happened to
Guterson with ''snow falling on cedars'.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But that wasn't a sequel
issue...just late with the book.
|
|
neo
|
Isn't it better to know where
your story is going before you start writing it? Isn't that what outlining
is all about?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sure, BUT, neo, a novel is an
organic thing.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
As you begin to write, your
characters, main and secondary, grow and evolve...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and new subplots and plot
twists come to mind. Most of us find that by the time we're halfway through
the book...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
we have diverged quite a bit
from our original intent.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Can happen even in a short
story a new things occur to you.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So often, the end that worked
in the outline stage...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
is no longer the best end when
you finally get there.
|
|
whistlin_smithy
|
Do you thinik Tolkien might be a
good example of this? He spent a lifetime creating the Hobbit and Lord of
the Rings books.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
An example of a huge story
sliced up, smithy? It is definitely that!
|
|
drakeluvr
|
The whole conflict and ending
issue is one reason I write fan fiction... it give me practice so that when
I get to my own work, I know how to write a good conflict and a good ending
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's a good way to do some
practice, but be careful drake. It's easy to stay safe in fanfic. Why not
create your own characters? :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If your ending peters out...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
ask yourself 'what is my
conflict'?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Does your ending resolve it,
one way or another?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And if it does and your ending
still seems weak...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
ask yourself what OTHER
conflicts exist in your story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Really think about it.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sometimes they are subtle
character conflicts and hard to see, but much more important than you might
realize.
|
|
drakeluvr
|
Oh, I have... and I'm working on
an outline now... just way too many fan fic plot bunnies in my head :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
-) Good for you, though.
Copying IS good practice, just don't do it forever.
|
|
neo
|
There seems to be plenty of room
for organic growth of characters with a plot outlined first. Do you oppose
this practice, and if so, why?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's what I just got done
saying, neo. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
No matter how much you
outline, you're going to see your story evolve and grow...certainly novel
length works anyway.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Or you SHOULD.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I outline every long piece I
work on...in detail...saves me a lot of rewriting later!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I just adjust my working
outline as my story grows.
|
|
starr r
|
When you say conflictS, are you
talking mostly about novels?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Nope. Story contains conflict.
Even short shorts, although those conflicts are often implied.
|
|
ashton
|
This kind of presents another
question. Say you've got an idea for a book and you've written your outline
and synopsed till you're blue in the face and you happen to find someone
willing to accept the story, they've read sample chapters, ect...the whole
works. Now, what if after all that your story has changed from its original
form, as you mentioned above. You've found more plot twists, ect. SHould
you go with that or stick to the original version the publisher read about?
And or, do you just tell your publisher about the changes and see what they
think about it?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, you and the editor have
the same goal, ashton...a powerful story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The editor is going to read
the entire ms before he/she makes an offer on it, unless you have a
publishing track record in novel.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And when you write on
proposal...as I often do...changes to the main plot should be run past your
editor...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
because they may have told
Marketing what the story is about...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
for advance publicity
purposes. And if they have publically declared that you will be releasing a
ghost story...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and now it's a romance, this
is a problem.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But if the main plot arc is
pretty unchanged, it's no big deal.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can sell a book on a one
page proposal if the editor likes what you write and wants the idea.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And leaves a LOT of room for
variation, LOL!
|
|
starr r
|
What I mean is, more than one
conflict for short stories?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you can do it, starr, it is
better to have both a character (internal) and external conflict in any
piece of fiction.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The story is much stronger
that way.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It is hard to do in short
work, so you'll find more stories that are plot driven or character driven
but don't...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
really make use of both
internal/external plot.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And often, that is why your
end is flat in a short story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You may have resolved your
external plot, but it just isn't enough to make the story compelling.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Here, it's not really the end
that is the problem...it's a lack of conflict.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
By adding an internal
conflict, you may increase the conflict level and suddenly the ending
works.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Often it is not the ending per
se that is at fault.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It is a plot problem in the
story structure.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
So when you focus on finding
the 'right ending' you end up frustrated...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
because no ending seems to
work.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's because the end is not
the problem.
|
|
starr r
|
You're saying the character
change PLUS the "quest".
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yep.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Worth the work, believe me.
|
|
whistlin_smithy
|
It seems like some authors like
Ken Follet wrap up all their story's conflicts at the end, while some like
Jan Karon wrap up the main conflict but leave some of the more ancillary
conflicts unaddressed. Do you think this is wise from a novel standpoint? Would
it function better in a series instead?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It's a balancing act, smithy.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you are a powerful writer
and readers LOVE your work, they may grumble at your loose ends you leave
untied...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
but they'll keep reading you
and simply send you complaining fan mail. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yeah, it's probably better to
tie up loose ends...but then again...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
the book with a solid last
chapter of nothing but end-tying is pretty awkward.
|
|
whistlin_smithy
|
The late Howard Cosell thrived
on grousing fans! And made it to the top :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Yep, just don't assume that
it's a GOOD way to make it to the top.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
One way to look at ending is
this...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
if you have a strong plot
structure in place...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
your end will pretty much
write itself.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I think of it as pushing a
ball up a hill...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
when you get to the top, the
ball rolls down all by itself.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you build a solid plot with
a good dramatic arc, when you get close to your climax...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
your story will roll along
under its own weight.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
At this point in my career, I
recognize that point when it occurs and can relax and enjoy the ride. The
real work of the story is over,.
|
|
drakeluvr
|
I noticed in Half Blood Prince
by JKR, that she left us hanging on what happens in Harry's Seventh
year.... I know that this is good for a series, that way she leaves things
to fill in the last book with, but do you think that she touched on...
|
|
drakeluvr
|
everything she needed too in
this book?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I haven't read it yet, Drake,
I'm afraid.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But she may well have done
that. She's under a lot of pressure to produce here!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is our After Hours Forum,
with me, Mary Rosenblum, your web editor. We're talking about endings
tonight. I've published seven novels and more than 60 short stories and
will do my best to answer any questions you have. 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 in order to
ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't reach me! Or you can use /ask
and type your question into the regular send bar if that works better for
you
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
An excellent exercise for
novice writers is to graph out the dramatic arc of your story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Do it for your POV character
and for your external plot
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Mostly when we start out, we
get the idea, come up with the character (in either order) and start
writing the story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The plot sort of grows as we
go. :-) I did that when I first wrote.
|
|
fiction_scribe
|
can you talk more about graphing
the dramatic arc
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sure.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Sit down with your story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
STart with your external plot.
That is usually much more obvious, unless you are writing a mainstream
piece that is strongly character driven.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Ask yourself 'what is the
problem'.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It may be clear cut...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
The MC is lost in the Amazon
rainforest.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Find your climax...this is the
point at which your MC can either succeed...find a way out...or
fail...maybe die.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It is the point at which the
end can go either way...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Find your resolution...your
end. In our example, the MC will either get found or find a way out...or
will die, most likely.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That is your dramatic arc for
the external plot...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
start with the problem...lost
in the rainforest...work your way to climax..a dramatic point where he/she
may live or die....and end with your resolution...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Let's say our climax is a
jaguar in the night, out to eat our MC.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
He manages to fight it off,
scare it off, what have you...and in the morning, discovers he's within a
few meters of a road. He is now saved.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This is a perfectly good
story, but it's an external story only...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
our character is simply
reacting to external pressures...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
trying to find his way out of
the jungle, scaring off that hungry jaguar, and finding that road.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Let's add an internal
conflict.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Maybe our lost person is the
'failed' son of a famous explorer and is bumbling about in his father's old
stomping grounds, pretty much making all the beginner mistakes.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Maybe that jaguar, in the
moment of attack, seems to be his father's ghost...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and the son's rage at his
father is what drives the cat away.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
when he finds his way out, he
is no longer living in the shadow of his father...that is our internal
conflict.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
His problem...being oppressed
by his father's reputation...has been solved.
|
|
wolf122
|
In short stories, is it ok to
tie off the ends in the conflicts, but leave a feeling that the story
continues beyond this piece?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Absolutely!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
A 'happily every after' ending
seems utterly phony to most readers.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Let's look at our jaguar
example.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This guy might be a petty con
artist, have money troubles, have all kinds of life issues...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
and they haven't gone away.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But we have dealt with the
main issues.
|
|
starr r
|
So, without both kinds of
conflict, the story is more likely
|
|
starr r
|
to be rejected?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Depends on the story,
starr....but if you have ONLY an external plot then it needs to be a VERY
strong external plot...not just a good one.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And if you have ONLY an
internal plot, then those characters had better walk off the page.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
BUt if you have both external
and internal you will be at the top of the slush pile right there, and if
they work together...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
as in our jaguar example, you
have a story that is greater than the sum of its plot parts and yes, more
likely to be accepted...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
even if your writing isn't yet
as strong as it could be.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It is hard to combine internal
and external in short fiction.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Much easier ...and pretty much
necessary...in novel form.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If you can master it, you'll
sell your stories.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Often, the reason that ending
reads 'flat' is that you only have one plot and that plot just didn't
generate enough conflict to make the end satisfying.
|
|
randi-lee
|
I don't outline well. This is
because it many times takes the joy out of writing the story for me and
most of the time I end up totally deviating from it. Sometimes the ending
is too predictable, Is there a way to make your ending more unpredictable.
Would that be by the use of internal conflict.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I personally use character
conflict to avoid 'predictable' endings, yes.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You can have a predictable
external ending...escape from the jaguar...but make it unique by couple it
with your internal conflict...Dad's ghost.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I doubt I could sell an
external conflict 'fight off the jaguar' story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
We'd know the guy was going to
have to face the cat, he's going to win or lose, he wins, ho hum. 'To Build
a Fire' did it already and better. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But if I make that character
real, and he faces his father's ghost in that cat, then it's not a
predictable ending and it' snot another version of 'To Build a Fire' and
it'll probably sell.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And that is also why 'it's been
done' is not relevant. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It hasn't been done THIS way.
:-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
[btw...'To Build A Fire' is
the Jack London story where the man gets caught in an arctic blizzard and
has to build a fire or die. It's a classic.]
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Literary trivia diversion
here:
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
An editor friend told me once
that London originally wrote that story with the man actually building the
fire and surviving and subbed it to Boy's Life.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It was rejected, and he then
killed off the man, and it became the classic it is. So don't let anyone
tell you downbeat endings are always a bad choice. :-0
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And it's also a case of ending
troubles...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
his end WAS predictable. This
is a very plot driven story.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
As I recall it's in cinematic
third person.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And the 'predictable end'
didn't work.
|
|
starr r
|
Good to know, because many of
mine are downbeat.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Well, remember starr,
exceptions prove the rule. :-) They ARE hard to sell, because they do not
automatically engender sympathy from the reader.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
You almost have to ram 'em
down the readers' throats whether they like 'em or not. :-)
|
|
starr r
|
LOL I can do that.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's a good attitude. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
But those downbeat ends can be
awfully weak, too.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If your character spends the
story contemplating suicide and then does it...
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
ho hum.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Here, a stronger end might be
something the causes the suicide not to happen, and not because the
character had an unrealistic last minute change of heart.
|
|
starr r
|
How do you feel about the
so-called "Twilight Zone" endings?
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They were fun on twilight
zone. They don't work particularly well, I feel, for serious fiction.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
They're fine for fun little
plot driven short shorts.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Not every story has to be
earth-shaking. LOL
|
|
starr r
|
fun little plot driven short
shorts...is what I write. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
That's fine. There's a growing
market for them. :-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
And they ARE fun.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
If your ending feels
predictable...ask yourself what will set it on it's ear, so to speak.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
It might be a character
twist...like our jaguar ghost.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Or it might be an external
twist.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Something unexpected happens.
(Just make it realistic).
|
|
starr r
|
That's what I like, the tales of
the unexpected.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Good. Look for the
Sf/horror/fantasy ezines. There are quite a few out there.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
This has been fun Oregon Hour.
:-)
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Do join us Sunday for our
casual chat, same place same time.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Usually quite a few of us get
together to just talk writing. No topic, no 'questions', just chat.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
I'll post the transcript in
the usual place...Writing Craft: Forum Trancripts.
|
|
starr r
|
Thank you for everything, Mary!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Good luck with your short
shorts, starr.
|
|
fiction_scribe
|
what time Sunday
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Same as this Forum, Fiction...
5 pm Pacific, 6 mt, 7 central, 8 east coast...and I give UP on daylight
savings for you all who don't do it! LOL
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Have a good weekend, all!
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
See you Sunday.
|
|
mary rosenblum
|
Bye all!
|