Re: Dragging my feet about the ending

Sea Wasp <seawasp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Depends on (A) how Bad is Bad, and (B) Series or Standalone?
(for some books, the answer is "what bad guy?" -- see later)

Standalone, you have to resolve the main conflict in a
reasonably final manner. Series, you need to tie up SOME
immediate conflict in a reasonably final manner so it feels like
an ending. Unless you have a VERY clear story arc -- like, for
instance, Lord of the Rings, which was basically one REALLY F'ING
BIG BOOK and therefore couldn't have an "ending" for each of the
three.

So far so well.

The worse your bad guy is, the more total his defeat has to be.
If he's redeemable, he can even just surrender, or leave with a
sardonically respectful one-liner, etc.

I think this is a bit too general... What if you have a really nasty
bad guy, but the story isn't about defeating him, is actually
defined to not be about his demise?

(To be fair, I always mention that the ME is not a beat the evil
overlord story.)

Actually, while I have bad guys in almost every story[*], the
stories are about the people. Even when the goal is to beat the bad
guys, their existence is just an excuse, in the backround, to show
the people.

Well, so far, with the two big stories at least. Perhaps losing
sight of that is what stopped so many of the beginnings.

[*] 'Almost', because the different perspective means the vampire in
my vampire is as bad as a farmer eating salad. And so far I haven't
seen any villains in the thing I dug out and continue at present.

And again, if it's a series, he has to be beaten enough to feel
like a victory, but not enough to keep him from returning for the
series, if he's the main adversary.

Which may also be a group, rather than a single person, I guess.

I think a lot of that depends on what type of story you're
telling. I don't WRITE stories in which I can allow my good guys
to be TOO nasty. They can be TEMPTED to be real nasty, but they
have to stay on the Light Side of the Force.

I think there's also opinions involved in what is nasty, and what is
the light side doing what has to be done.

(If some supposed hero starts whining instead of chopping off the
villain's head, I think he's stupid, not good. Though in stories
like that, I am probably already long since siding with the villain,
hoping the supposed hero dies painfully.)


--
Tina
WISuspension: Seasons & Elements trilogy | Magic Earth series
Excerpts at: <http://home.htp-tel.de/fkoerper/ath/athintro.htm>
Posted to Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.sf.composition.

.

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