How to Chose Your End Point In Historicals?

This one of the "others" does as you do, ending at the end of the MC's character arc.

Yup, end of the character's arc and journey. The one I'm writing now is going to end in 1897, because I want to get some of the Diamond Jubilee stuff in there, but it's also enough time to let my characters grow.

I ended mine when my MC came full circle.

gothicangel said:

Last week I was browsing books, and picked up Phillppa Gregory's new novel (didn't buy it, not a particular fan and not paying £10 for a book I can't trade in, but will get it as a p/b as I want to see how she treats James IV and his Queen Margaret). I went to the end to how Gregory ended the story, and was surprised to see it was with the marriage of her son James to French Princess Madeline (it didn't last long, Madeline was sickly and died soon after). I would have thought she would have ended it with James second marriage to Mary de Guise, mother of Mary, Queen of Scots (who Margaret got along with a lot) and therefore assuring the Stewart succession to the English throne.

This started me thinking, when dealing with history, where do you end a story. So far, in my historicals, the history is a backdrop so I chose my story's end at the end of the plot/character arc. So how do others do it?

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In Gregory's case, I think the end point makes sense: she's planning for the sequel (she does a lot of sequels, I notice). By starting the next book with Madeline's death, she has a smooth way to slide in backstory to get the new reader up to speed. Then, on to the new marriage, his death and (almost simultaneously) Mary's birth. What money that the book after that is about Mary, Queen of Scots?

I think your approach makes more sense: it's that part of your MC's life that we're interested in, and if it lines up with historical events, so be it, maybe that's the natural end or turning point of the arc. But unless you're telling the story of the Depression or a war through the medium of a character's experiences, historic events would take second place, aside from their effects on the character's life.

Of course, it's different for royalty, whose lives are more entwined than most in historic events. Indeed, their lives are pretty much made up of historic events: births, marriages, deaths.

Although, sometimes the alert reader will notice that historic events are looming over the story. Yay, the book ends with everybody all content and happy and settled! But off-page, whatever war is most relevant is looming! Little do they know!

frimble3 said:

Although, sometimes the alert reader will notice that historic events are looming over the story. Yay, the book ends with everybody all content and happy and settled! But off-page, whatever war is most relevant is looming! Little do they know!

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I once ended a short story like that, with a pair of lovers running off to Paris together in what appeared to be a HEA - except that it was the 1930s, and the guy was Jewish.

Mostly at the character's story arc. However, I've done an epilogue with news about a major development within the historical arc the story had in the background. For instance, in Legacy of Hunger, I had the main character learning about progress on her political letter-writing campaign (and others') in changing conditions after the Great Potato Famine in Ireland in 1846, years afterwards. It wasn't a full solution, but at the time it had promise. The full solution (revolution/independence) didn't come around until 1916, well after she would have been dead.

I might be in the minority, then. My MC is as far from royalty as it's possible to imagine, and history is indeed only a backdrop for the story. The story ends when the historical events end, however, not when the MC's story arc comes full circle.

The story is written in the form of an interrogation. When the interrogation is finished and the MC has told his version of events to those who are interrogating him, he is gone from the spotlight. This is done to show how little his life is worth – no one cares what happens to him (for those who do, there are some hints, but that's about it).

That sounds highly intriguing, Tocotin!

Stories end two ways: when the binary plot question(s) presented by the novel is(/are) exhausted, or when you have exhausted the theme and there is nothing more to say without repeating yourself. The second is much more common in literary novels.

Tolkien said it best through his character Gandalf in a conversation with Pippin:

"End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it."

The story ends where you decide it ends. Well crafted, you can set yourself up for a sequel.

regards,

DrDoc