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You heard me right: I don’t write happy endings. I just don’t. It’ s not me. It’s not, quite frankly, how I see the world.
I’ll explain.
I know there are stories out there of people overcoming insurmountable odds to reunite with their lost loves/families/pets/computer games. I know there are high school sweethearts in the world who’ve stayed happily married for 60 years. And I know that, every once in a while, the good guys actually win.
But I don’t give a shit.
It’s probably a character flaw.
The thing is, in the stories I write, I’m not seeking resolution. I have absolutely no interest in bringing everything to a neat conclusion. My characters are always in process, never complete, never satisfied. Even if they get what they think they want, it’s not going to be what they expected or hoped for. Because that’s how life is, in my experience.
It’s messy. It’s complicated. We make major decisions with incomplete information, never really knowing, really knowing whether we’ve chosen the right thing. Every silver lining has a cloud. There’s a yin to every yang.
I’m about to choke on cliches.
My point is, in fiction, what calls to me isn’t the happy-ending, oh-god-that’s-just-so-right shite that ends up as Lifetime movies. In real life, people do the right thing for the wrong reasons, or vice versa. Love isn’t, actually, enough. Sometimes conflict—internal or external—is the only constant.
So I write about that.
And so did most of the authors in the Western canon. (Shakespeare, anyone? Dostoyevsky? Hemingway? Woolf?)
Hell, I don’t have to like that this is the way things are. But it sure does make things interesting for the ol’ fiction. Because people hurt. They make daily choices between bad and worse. They stumble in the dark, and sometimes the only glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train. Sacrifice isn’t always noble.
Here’s your happy ending.
That’s what I know. It’s what speaks to me.
It’s what I write.
Deal.
You're right.
ReplyDeleteAlmost all of my characters die before the end. Or are dead before the story even starts.
ReplyDeleteI much prefer my stories to end like King Lear, with bodies scattered on the stage. It's much more fun that way.
ReplyDeleteI never really liked most Lifetime movies anyway, because so many of them (especially the ones that focus on murder and adultery) end in the same way.
ReplyDeleteI do like to write happy endings, though, partly because I write chick lit. Most of the chick lit novels I've read have happy endings, even though the chick doesn't always end up with the guy in the end. But that can often be the reason why the ending is a happy one.
I would never expect you to write a happy ending, Simon. How could I, when at what would most likely constitute a happily ever after for you, the vodka never refills itself after the last drop? See that? I just backed up your point with a capital V.
ReplyDeleteHear ye! I always write a syrupy happy ending in my first (usually NaNo'd) draft, then in rewrites I go and kill people, break everyone up, make the hero lose and other such "real life" things.
ReplyDeleteJeffrey's comment iz teh funnies.
Brilliant post. As a guy going through a temporary cynical point in my life, four decades and counting, I couldn't agree with you more. The romantic aspect of my thriller ends with the girl dumping the guy. Fuck 'em. Some female readers are demanding the sequel address that "issue" but I'm just making the characters even more miserable. I'm a cruel god sometimes.
ReplyDeleteMore importantly, have you tried 43? It's a little on the sweet side but very smooth. It's not as manly as vodka, but I happen to like girly drinks. There's always sambuca in my freezer. My brand spells it sambvca. It must be better.
I wishI could take some of this thinking and add it to my own life, well, writing life that is. I for some reason have such a hard time adding conflict to my stories. I have a hard time making my characters suffer in any regard- even the bad guy. Even right now with my NaNo story, I keep looking at the screen and thinking "something bad has to happen!" I guess now I'll starting thinking, "What would Simon do?" ;-)
ReplyDeleteFunny thing is-- I really like stories that don't end well. Romeo and Juliet, anyone? Although, if I think about it, maybe it was a happy ending. One didn't live to suffer through the death of the other. Yeah, I babbling. I like things that don't always end on a happy note. Gives a sense of reality.
ReplyDeleteRight now, I tend to resolve stuff in a more happier sense, but try to put my characters through hell to get there. Nothing in life is fluffy. Right?
Hi ya Simon!
ReplyDeleteI don't like sugar in my coffee either. Or sweet wine. I like strong beer and tragedy. Just not in my own life. I like a satisfying ending which is different than a happy ending. I'm a romantic at heart which is a personal failing. I'm trying to overcome that. Here's to a good morning and good drink.
If you wrote a happy ending, I'd be stunned.
ReplyDeleteI don't need a happy ending, but I do need a satisfying conclusion. And it's got to be a damned good story for evil to win out.
I like stories that have good endings, no matter whether they're happy or sad. I don't like existential endings, however. They make me feel so low about life, the universe, and everything. I write happy endings for my own sanity, but they're usually small happy endings.
ReplyDeleteWell said...and written too.
ReplyDeleteI don't watch Lifetime. And I just like an ending. Whether it's happy or not is insignificant.
ReplyDeleteGood! I don't read happy endings.
ReplyDeleteBest post I ever read of yours. No happy ending here and that makes sense :). Fiction always has a choice. But life? That's another matter. I like my fiction real :).
ReplyDeleteI much prefer to leave characters in heart-renching agony at the end.
ReplyDeleteJess: Alas.
ReplyDeleteCarrie: Zombies are still popular, I hear, so yay for dead characters!
Stephanie: A liberal sprinkling of bodies makes every story better, m'dear.
NW: Happy endings are expected in certain genres. But that's why I don't write those genres. :)
Jeff: My points are always better backed up with vodka. :nods:
Sophia: And rewrites are what make it shine, m'dear, I'm sure!
Charlie: Our characters' misery is what makes the fiction awesome. And no, I haven't tried 43! :adds to list of things to drink:
Kelly: Yes! And the answer to that question is: Simon would get drunk and kill off some characters. :D
Christine: Nope. Nothing is fluffy in real life. Except kittens and small bunnies. They're pretty fluffy.
Yvonne: I drink my coffee black and my alcohol straight. But I don't think I could write anything good if I didn't have at least a little heart. Empathy, no?
Alex: Best I can do, I think, is ambiguously happy-seeming. I might be able to pull that off.
Jill: See, I kind of like existential endings. Maybe I enjoy wallowing. :considers:
Liza: My thanks, good lady.
Marsha: What, no open-ended stories for you? ;)
Paul: Good! You'll love my books, then! :D
Amy: "I like my fiction real." Love that, m'dear. That's quotable.
Cate: You an' me both, darlin'. It's cathartic, in a way, no?
Ah hell! I'm far too late responding to this post, but I can't help myself. YES! YES! YES!
ReplyDeleteHappily Ever Afters destroy truth on the page. It isn't that an HEA isn't possible, but it depends on how life goes, and intimating everlasting happiness at the end of a story automatically transforms it into fantasy.
When I read "The End," I want to believe the characters go on without me, that their lives continue. There will be ups and downs because that's what life is. It's not a matter of good vs. evil, it's a matter of man vs life.
MAN vs. LIFE: the ultimate smack-down.
VR: It's never too late to respond to a post, good lady, especially when you're agreeing with me. ;) And yes, life's too messy for me to want a neat package in my stories. Just can't do it.
ReplyDelete