Hello, folks. You may not remember me or even know me, I've been quiet so long. It's been difficult to get in here because of work and family.
Anyway, I've been working my way through the plot of a new story, a Christmas story, and puzzling out the pieces. For me, developing a new story idea is about answering questions like What happened just before this? and Why did they hide the key? and Where did what's-his-name go and why?
And so, I've worked out most of the plot. It's been interesting and fun, like mapping out a town that's new to you. But just this morning I realized there was one bit that I hadn't considered yet, and that was How does it end? It's a bit important as questions go, but what with one thing leading to another, I'm afraid I've painted everyone in the story into a corner.
The most rational ending would be for the bad guy to kill everyone, but that wouldn't make much a story. "And then they all died" is a very unsatisfactory finish.
I'm telling you this just in case anyone was curious about what I'm up to and whether I'd write again. Hopefully I'll get this done before the holidays, and don't have to wait for Santa to provide a satisfying denouement.
I suppose I might resort to something outlandishly implausible. In fact, just as I was writing the last sentence I got an idea that made me laugh out loud, so it may be the key I was looking for.
Thanks for listening!
Comments
Hello again !!!
Yes, it has been a while since we have heard from you, but now that you are back, hopefully to stay, I wish you the best. I am looking forward to your new story.
Much peace
Gwen
Pleasant Surprise
Happy to hear that you're still interested and able to put some time in. I hope you are successful finishing and posting your story. I look forward to reading it if you do post.
Take care, and thanks for the update.
I'm a fan, I would love to read a new story of yours
I enjoyed your Marcie Donner Stories and Short Chapters. Throw The Doll From The Train is one of the funniest chapters I've read on BC. I am sad I never got to find out if Wiggy ever made it though, or was real.
How does it end?
"How does it end," is the second question I answer in my story line development, right after, "What started all this." I find it difficult to write a story, if I don't know how it's going to end. It's kind of like taking a road trip... If I don't know where I'm going, it's difficult to know what direction to head out.
My process starts with the germ of an idea, the catalyst that starts the story in motion. Then I decide how I want the story to end. With the beginning and the end, it becomes a matter of steering plot to reach that end. Of course to make the story interesting, there has to be some conflict that makes getting to the desired end difficult. (The next set of questions to be answered, often time answered on the fly.) This causes a circuitous trip where in plot twists engage the reader in the story.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
Definitely glad to see you're
Definitely glad to see you're still around. Yes, I would like more of the Marcie Chronicles, but just knowing you're still around is good enough.
BW
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Good to see you here again
Look forward to reading your latest offering when you've finished it. Know the feeling of being busy.
Angharad
Great to See...
...you posting again. Hope you can work things out with the story.
Endings are important; you can't finish a story without one. Not sure whether that's a silly or snarky way of putting it, but it's something I discovered as a seven-year old playwright, and it's still a constant problem anytime I try to write more than 750 words of fiction. (Those two plays in 1958 may be the last time I succeeded.)
There are (or were) at least a couple of stories here that ended by clearing the stage, killing off the hero along with the villain a la Holmes and Moriarty. (Though the more contentious of the two didn't kill them in a confrontation; they coincidentally got into the same auto accident and both vehicles fell into a ditch, killing their occupants. People here were arguing as to whether there was foreshadowing that could "justify" such an ending for the readers. Most of us didn't see it, even after the fact.) Not a popular way to proceed, though I think there have been a few heroes that tempted fate enough to deserve it.
Those who try to escape by saying it was all a dream usually aren't very popular, as you may know from experience. (Though most people seemed kinder to the end of Marcie and the Amazons than I was, and you did provide a blog explanation afterward.) Again, I'd say it's a matter of foreshadowing; Lewis Carroll's world was surreal enough to justify it; IMO, not many others are.
This comment probably isn't helping matters. I hope everything goes smoothly, even if you can't post the story by 12/25.
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Best, Eric