Am I running too great a risk?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Judg

DISENCHANTED coming soon
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 13, 2006
Messages
4,527
Reaction score
1,182
Location
Ottawa, Canada and Spring City, PA
Website
janetursel.com
In my current WIP, I've got two young people falling desperately, passionately in love. (Living in their heads has been a very intense experience. Whew.) I've tried to really get their experience across to the reader. Thing is, this isn't a romance. They're not going to get a Happily Ever After. Political considerations are going to get in the way until they'll have no choice but to call it off themselves.

Assuming I've done anything near a competent job of getting readers to invest in these two, are they going to hate my guts when she basically tells him it's over and he perfectly understands it, even while it's ripping both of them into shreds? Or should I throw them a shred of consolation, hinting that maybe, just maybe, the relationship could become possible in the future? The future lying somewhere beyond the end of this particular novel.

I'm not there in my writing yet, but I have a nasty habit of making things difficult for myself (you try writing Christian fantasy and then make a believer the bad guy...) and I'm wondering if maybe I'm overdoing it a bit. Or a lot.
 

MacAllister

'Twas but a dream of thee
Staff member
Boss Mare
Administrator
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
VPX
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
22,010
Reaction score
10,705
Location
Out on a limb
Website
macallisterstone.com
I think it's generally easier to go back and smooth and tame something that went a little wild than it is to go back and write it more raw, more fierce and more true.

Just my two cents. Go with the story you've got to tell, just as honestly and as fiercely as you can. If you need to nice it up later, worry about that bridge when you get to it.
 

katiemac

Five by Five
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
11,521
Reaction score
1,661
Location
Yesterday
I like stories that tell the truth. If it's true to the characters that they can't make it work, so be it.
 

cscarlet

AW = Procrastination.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Messages
863
Reaction score
164
Location
Catch me if you can!
I think you should refrain from trying to decide now, and let the characters decide for themselves when they get there.

If it's important for them to believe in a future which might reignite their love, then tell the story. If they really are at peace with the decision when it comes, then go with that. They'll tell you what to do ;)

(this coming from the girl who outlines the heck out of everything... meh.)
 

Wayne K

Banned
Joined
Dec 3, 2008
Messages
21,564
Reaction score
8,082
I like real life, and that's real. The older I get the more I hate happily ever after all of the time. Give me a villain who wins in the end or a relationship that doesn't work out. Give me a guy who says "Do what you want to the girl, just don't hurt me." (Okay kidding there) I tend to identify with it more, even if I don't like the result.
 

panda

its harders sto type withh paaws
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 22, 2009
Messages
284
Reaction score
25
In my current WIP, I've got two young people falling desperately, passionately in love.

You had me there, lol. :)

(Living in their heads has been a very intense experience. Whew.) I've tried to really get their experience across to the reader. Thing is, this isn't a romance. They're not going to get a Happily Ever After. Political considerations are going to get in the way until they'll have no choice but to call it off themselves.
Assuming I've done anything near a competent job of getting readers to invest in these two, are they going to hate my guts when she basically tells him it's over and he perfectly understands it, even while it's ripping both of them into shreds? Or should I throw them a shred of consolation, hinting that maybe, just maybe, the relationship could become possible in the future? The future lying somewhere beyond the end of this particular novel.

I'm not there in my writing yet, but I have a nasty habit of making things difficult for myself (you try writing Christian fantasy and then make a believer the bad guy...) and I'm wondering if maybe I'm overdoing it a bit. Or a lot.

One of my favorite books and films is the English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. Which is strange because usually I shy away from sad endings, life can be pretty sad without also spilling into fiction.

If it is a romance, then yeah the reader may feel slightly cheated. That said, a story shouldn't shoved into a box until it fits a genre's expectations. I would rather read something sad that resonates, than something happy that's flat.

Also, didn't Nicholas Sparks write something similar with a 'Walk to Remember' That has a sad ending. Sometimes, the sad endings are what make them memorable, like Casablanca.
 

Judg

DISENCHANTED coming soon
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 13, 2006
Messages
4,527
Reaction score
1,182
Location
Ottawa, Canada and Spring City, PA
Website
janetursel.com
Katie, left to themselves, they could make it work. But they aren't being left to themselves. When you're a queen, geopolitical considerations can impose themselves. And when the "consideration" is a civil war, there's only one ethical thing to do. Unfortunately, they didn't see it coming. They thought they had a love match that had the bonus of being politically expedient. But circumstances had other ideas. (I absolutely refuse to take responsibility for this. I'm just the writer.)
 

Judg

DISENCHANTED coming soon
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 13, 2006
Messages
4,527
Reaction score
1,182
Location
Ottawa, Canada and Spring City, PA
Website
janetursel.com
Thanks for all the encouragement, people. I agree that if it were a romance, it would probably be taking too big a risk. Seeing as it's a fantasy (which is going to feel more like a historical) I have a little more wiggle room.

Mac, I really like what you have to say there. It rings true.

Panda, you're also right that sometimes a sad ending is the one that fits and makes the story memorable. I hope I'll be able to pull this off.
 

katiemac

Five by Five
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
11,521
Reaction score
1,661
Location
Yesterday
Katie, left to themselves, they could make it work. But they aren't being left to themselves. When you're a queen, geopolitical considerations can impose themselves. And when the "consideration" is a civil war, there's only one ethical thing to do. Unfortunately, they didn't see it coming. They thought they had a love match that had the bonus of being politically expedient. But circumstances had other ideas. (I absolutely refuse to take responsibility for this. I'm just the writer.)

Oh yeah, that works, too. External/internal factors apply to the truth and realism about the characters. I'd be more irritated if they got together in the end based on false or manipulated pretenses than if they stayed apart due to legitimate reasons. Plus, you can't go wrong with a little self-sacrifice.
 

sunandshadow

Impractical Fantasy Animal
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 17, 2005
Messages
4,827
Reaction score
336
Location
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Website
home.comcast.net
I like real life, and that's real. The older I get the more I hate happily ever after all of the time. Give me a villain who wins in the end or a relationship that doesn't work out. Give me a guy who says "Do what you want to the girl, just don't hurt me." (Okay kidding there) I tend to identify with it more, even if I don't like the result.
Funny, I feel just the opposite. The older I get, the less patience I have for unhappy endings, because real life is so awful it's the last thing we need more of in the fiction which is supposed to be our escape, encouragement, and example of how things could be.
 

Salis

You Lie!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 10, 2009
Messages
725
Reaction score
91
Funny, I feel just the opposite. The older I get, the less patience I have for unhappy endings, because real life is so awful it's the last thing we need more of in the fiction which is supposed to be our escape, encouragement, and example of how things could be.

And we come full circle. Someone will hate one way, and someone will love it.

I think this is one of those situations where writing what you personally enjoy/empathize with is the way to go. No matter what you do, someone will be upset. Might as well go with what is authentic to you.
 

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle
Absolute Sage
VPX
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
25,582
Reaction score
3,785
Location
New Hampshire
Website
madhousemanor.wordpress.com
Go, rent or buy the movie Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (dir. John Huston; Robert Mitchum, Deborah Kerr). Watch it. You may find an answer.

Or, this answer: Be honest with your characters, let them be honest with you. Happy endings with wedding bells and bunnies and kittens and rainbows are not required.
 

Ruv Draba

Banned
Joined
Dec 29, 2007
Messages
5,114
Reaction score
1,322
Macs 1 and 2 nailed it. Write the characters strong. Write them true. Tear their masks off. I don't think backing off conflict ever improved a story, though sometimes adding balance does.
 

Cassiopeia

Otherwise Occupied
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 1, 2006
Messages
10,878
Reaction score
5,343
Location
Star to the right and straight on till morning.
I'm wondering what genre this fits in, because in my mind, romance can end with NOT Happily Ever After.

Right? So your story has an element of romance in it?

I agree that you should just write it and then come back and smooth over the rough edges. I have complete faith in your ability to do it. :)
 

Raphee

In debt to AW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 16, 2007
Messages
1,338
Reaction score
178
Location
Lost
I would feel cheated if you made them live happily ever after, just because you thought it would be nice.
Go with the story that rings true.
 

kaitie

With great power comes
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 10, 2009
Messages
10,995
Reaction score
2,526
I like real life, and that's real. The older I get the more I hate happily ever after all of the time. Give me a villain who wins in the end or a relationship that doesn't work out. Give me a guy who says "Do what you want to the girl, just don't hurt me." (Okay kidding there) I tend to identify with it more, even if I don't like the result.

Ditto. ;)
 

JennW

Hangin' with my writing peeps
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
1,244
Reaction score
3,766
Location
NJ
Be honest and true. If it doesn't work out, so be it. Happy ending is not required all the time.
 

cbenoi1

Banned
Joined
Dec 30, 2008
Messages
5,038
Reaction score
977
Location
Canada
> Also, didn't Nicholas Sparks write something similar with a 'Walk to Remember' That has a sad ending.

Huh? There is a passage 2/3 through where the MC says "It would need a miracle to save her." And then the very last sentence "Oh, and I forgot to tell you something: I do believe in miracles." It's more like a hopeful ending than a sad one.

It may actually be a soft landing ending idea for Judg's WIP. Something can make the conditions of the separation vanish (i.e. whatever political winds each MC is riding turns about), and leaves the reader guessing how it really ends. It's not HEA, nor a brutal ending either.

-cb
 

Strange Days

who cares, anyway?..
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 10, 2009
Messages
1,180
Reaction score
32
Location
Somewhere, over the rainbow...

The hint of possible good future after a rather sad ending already was utilized in "Gone with the Wind"- and all too well...
I would think- just make it as depressing as only possible. That would sell well...
 

motormind

Banned
Flounced
Joined
Apr 13, 2009
Messages
557
Reaction score
41
In my current WIP, I've got two young people falling desperately, passionately in love. (Living in their heads has been a very intense experience. Whew.) I've tried to really get their experience across to the reader. Thing is, this isn't a romance. They're not going to get a Happily Ever After. Political considerations are going to get in the way until they'll have no choice but to call it off themselves.

Assuming I've done anything near a competent job of getting readers to invest in these two, are they going to hate my guts when she basically tells him it's over and he perfectly understands it, even while it's ripping both of them into shreds?


Uh. Who cares? Just write our story as you see fit.
 

firedrake

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 19, 2009
Messages
9,251
Reaction score
7,297
Yea, Mac's right. I read another post of yours yesterday where you said you were 'suffering' from the opposite of writer's block. Just roll with it, to me, that's the best state of mind for a writer to be in.

When I'm in situations like this, I find the characters take on a life of their own and the story writes itself, you may be surprised with how it ends!

Go for it.
 

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
43,746
Reaction score
8,652
Location
Los Angeles
Website
www.amazon.com
I agree with these fine folks: follow the characters. And like Mac said, it's easier to go back and pare things down than to go back and find that raw passion during rewrite.
 

Tara Stone

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 28, 2009
Messages
50
Reaction score
2
Right away I can think of one book series and one TV series that did something like that and made it work. I don't think the fans hated the creator(s) for it in either case. And I'm sure there are more.
 

CaroGirl

Living the dream
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
8,368
Reaction score
2,327
Location
Bookstores
If you're not writing a romance, and you're not, it doesn't matter if the love story ends happily or tragically, or even amicably, since that's not the entire point of the story. It's part of it and the characters go through it, but it's not what your story centres around.

My WiP is a love story, but ultimately a tragic one. So, not a romance either and not marketed as such. Write the characters as you see them and worry about the rest in draft 2. You might be surprised at how well it works.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.