Writerly Ways

[cornerofmadness]

I had a great idea of a column in the car on the way home. Naturally I can’t write it down going 70 mph down the highway (nor could I have even found a pen in that crowded car had I pulled to the side of the road). As I have giant potholes in my brain, that great idea fell into one. So I thought about what to do and came across it accidentally as I was looking over Voluntary Nightmare (along with Beneath the Torn Sky, is the only non-erotica thing I’m working on). I know there is no way this can be told in one story unless I want a monstrous 1000 pager. A trilogy, okay maybe but that’s stretching it. A duology would probably be very comfortable.

And that leads me to this writerly way. What can I do to make this work as a two part novel (or a trilogy if it comes down to it)? I know I’ve spoken several times to wildrider and evil_little_dog about the current trend in non-ending endings, especially in trilogies or duologies. I find these bitterly disappointing and very often I haven’t found out how the series ends because I don’t go on.

What I mean by the non-ending is that they just seem to trail to an ‘end’ and you have to wait until next book. Nothing has been resolved. I think the three of us grew up reading our fair share of fantasy and back in the day, while you knew the overarching storyline wasn’t going to be resolved for three books, at least the main plot thread in book one would be resolved by the end, before you moved on to book two. I recently read one where the protagonist’s husband has been kidnapped by an evil organization. By the end of book one she has freed him but the evil organization is still out there. This is the sort of resolution I like to see in my series fiction. On the other hand, I read one where they were tormenting boys in some kind of academy and one seeks to escape and on the outside, there’s a girl eking out an existence. You assume they’ll eventually meet but the story just ends with her going to town or some such nonsense. Not a single thing was resolved. I never did get the second book.

Circling back to my original point, I was looking at Voluntary Nightmare. It was a former nano now pared back to 43,500 give or take and I realize I’m barely at the halfway point. To end it somewhere that’s short of 150K+, I need to make some decisions. What is the main plot line for this book (vs. book2)? I think that’s actually rather easy to answer. I need to go back to where the two teams come together and split back up and make it clear, Ethon Drake is assembling the soldiers loyal to him. The book will end when he’s amassed his army, sort of figured out who is behind the attack on the goddess and is ready to take the fight to the king. That will at least give some resolution. We suspect who is behind the attacks (okay, the reader will already know but the characters won’t) and Ethon’s group stands ready for war. If I don’t do at least that much it’s going to wander to a non-ending end with the group mucking around in the woods.

How do you all feel about these non-ending endings? Do they bother you as much as they do me? Do you like the lack of resolution, preferring to fill in the blanks yourself? Curious minds are curious.

Word count for the Year –

1389 / 125000 words. 1% done!

Voluntary Nightmare -

43526 / 80000 words. 54% done!

Beneath the Torn Sky

62173 / 80000 words. 78% done!

Soldiers of the Sun

54645 / 80000 words. 68% done!

NY Steampunk (no name yet, barely begun, short story for DSP’s steampunk open call) -

137 / 15000 words. 1% done!

Comments

[sholio]

Yeah, I definitely agree with you about wanting a self-contained plot in a series novel! There should certainly be dangling threads of long-arc plot, but as a reader, I want the individual books to have a definite beginning, middle and end, and end in a place where I feel like I got some resolution, even if it's not the resolution of the overall plot thread.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Agreed. So far I've never met a person who likes the non-ending stuff but I'm seeing it more and more

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

I hate those non-ending things. I feel like I've been cheated when I read them. I want some sort of resolution, SOMETHING, to end the story I'm reading.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Yeah same here. I need to be very careful to be sure book one of Sverre and Archana's story doesn't end up that way

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes.

[silvrethorn.livejournal.com]

At least this is one thing I don't have to put up with in mystery series. The authors might leave dangling threads in the protagonists' personal and/or professional lives, but the whole point of a mystery novel is to solve a problem, criminal or otherwise. A mystery novel with no resolution would be utterly pointless. Things like the Game of Thrones saga--at least they tell you up front that the story is going to take several books to resolve. I haven't run into the open-ended novel yet, but I would be majorly pissed if I did, I'm sure. That's like forcing you to commit to a series instead of luring you into it with interesting characters, a compelling plot, and good writing. I say, if I like the first book, I'll come back on my own for the second. I'd resent being dragged back by my hair because I never found out what happened to the hero or heroine, and like you would probably just drop the series in disgust.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

you nailed it. This is why my favorite genre has always been mysteries. I don't expect everything to be wrapped up in a series but my god at least ONE plot line has to be. Then I'll want to see how it turns out.

not resolving anything is a sure way to make me pass on the rest

[tinhutlady.livejournal.com]

I am not a big fan of non-ending endings, definitely. (Like you, I love mysteries because there will be some resolution.) I can handle there being a bigger mystery or overarching plot for a series, but the individual novels should be somewhat self-contained on at least one or two levels and not end with a horrible sucker punch.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

thanks for weighing in. It seems to be the consensus among my friends. The Hobbit movie is sort of what I'm seeing popular for book endings. let's just trail off half way through the story and you have to get #2 to find out how anything ends

[tinhutlady.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Harry Potter seemed to open the door with #7 and #8 for one book, but really the old movie serials way back when probably started it to steal more kids' nickles. And they were more than likely imitating the serial/dime novels (precursors to comics). Who knows who started this mess? Lol

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

yes exactly. Actually, you know I wouldn't mind the non-ending ending if it was like the old days and I could get the next bit of the story next week.