Activity

I think it’s important to remember that there’s a difference between a happy ending and a perfect ending. In my opinion it’s the perfect endings that are cliché, while the happy endings can actually be really satisfying. While a story might end with the characters hurting and darkness and evil still existing, the story can still end happy.

@eden-anderson *applause* That was a great way to put it. I never really thought about it that way.

@germaine-han @msqueen8 I like the idea of the unexpected, and Germaine’s list looks great! I would say that it’s not so important that the idea be unexpected than the story/characters be meaningful. When the reader is touched by the story being deep and original, that’s also another thing that makes stories non-cliche.

Keep in mind that since this is an ending, we’ll want to construct the story world and events in the past clearly. We’ll also want to give the reader the impression that a lot has passed and the character arc has ended. Or something.

Adding on to Germaine’s list…

-The two sweethearts don’t end up together because they’ve gradually realized that they don’t fit and they accept that.

-The hero is unable to save the world, but realizes that it’s better off without his saving it, and that he’d been blind to through the course of his entire adventure.

-Ex-revolutionaries restore the monarchy because the revolution made everything worse.

-Even though two people still won’t speak to each other, they are at peace because they finally forgive each other, and maybe mutual friends communicate that fact to them… I don’t know.

😛