Resolution: The Other Side  of Conflict

December 23, 2009

 

Mary Rosenblum:  I hope you're all enjoying the holiday season! I think color, lights, and parties are the right thing to do in the darkest part of the year.  

Last week, at our  Friday Forum, we talked about conflict.   So this is the other 'bookend' -- Resolution.  The two things that nearly all novice writers have trouble with in fiction is a: where/how to start a story and b: how to end a story. And there's a reason for that!  It's often hard, as a novice writer, to really know what your central conflict actually is. And so an ending that ought to work really does not.  For example, you might write an action adventure story where the MC successfully brings his quest to a close, but in the course of the story, you've made the MC someone who has an internal conflict and that conflict turns out to be stronger than the external challenges faced by the MC and his/her fellow characters.  So the story, at the end, is going to feel flat.   Or a secondary conflict, say between two characters, is never resolved. Again...the story will feel flat.
Mary, just how does a writer know when an ending really works?
Mary Rosenblum:  Usually, David, you'll feel this nagging sense of doubt in your hind brain. :-) You're a reader, right? You know when a story satisfies you and when it doesn't. So it's easy to feel 'something is not quite right here' even if you don't yet have the skill set to say 'my ending is weak'.  This is where readers really are invaluable. Give the story to a good reader, usually another novice writer. Ask!  Does the ending work for you? Was it satisfying?  If the answer is no, ask the reader to tell you what he/she wanted that wasn't supplied.
[Auditorium]: Sundale has entered at 10:13 am Sometimes that person will be right o the reason, sometimes not, but in the course of the discussion you might figure out what's lacking.  In any case, you know you're not there yet.  OR....and this often happens....you're just being over critical of yourself and the readers are delighted with the ending.  You have very little objectivity as a novice writer and your own self doubts can really get in your way.

So it has to feel like it ended to your readers?
Mary Rosenblum:  It needs to feel 'ended' to the readers, yes, Linda Ann.  I'm sure you've all read a story where at the end your feeling was 'where's the rest?'.  A classic, one that is often included in HS reading assignments is the infamous 'Lady and the Tiger'.  Here, the story stops without telling the readers how it ends. While some people enjoy it, most readers hate that story for that very reason. :-)
I posted my short story on blogspot and gave the room the http and some people read it and gave me their reviews.  It  needs more
Mary Rosenblum:  That's a good way to get feedback, but don't post the final version there if you want to publish it, since a public posting is publishing and that means you can't sell first rights.  But if several readers felt you needed more to your end, I'd listen.
[Mary Rosenblum ] 10:18 am: Remember, not every reader will get things 'right' when they read your story. What you write is not going to work for everybody, so you have to shrug off some comments that are just 'out of the ball park'.  But if two or three good readers say the same thing...pay attention!
I took their reviews very seriously
Mary Rosenblum:  But in the end, Linda Ann, remember it's YOUR story, so make sure you do what works for you and use the reviews as help. Never try to do everything everybody tells you!

What  if there are multiple volumes to story? then you want a closed ending to volume 1 right?
Mary Rosenblum:  David, that's a very good question, let's talk about the series story. This is a story that is going to continue from book to book.  You see it a lot in the fantasy world, where series are almost required. (No, they're not actually required, but publishers do love them)  You have series in mystery, too, but there, each book is always a 'stand alone'.

 You see two types of 'resolution' in series books.  One is the 'stand alone' resolution, where the main plot arc in each book is resolved in that book, but an over arching plot arc is resolved only at the end of the series. OR, you have the 'slice of sausage' resolution, where your main plot arc carries through all the books and is only ended at the final book. Each individual book is a part of the whole and not meant to stand alone.  The Lord of the Rings trilogy is that sort.  It's actually a HUGE story that had to be divided into three books so that it didn't weigh as much as the Oxford English Dictionary when it was published! :-)  Of the two, you are better off doing a series where each book resolves but the over arching plot resolves only at the end. Reasons for this?  If a new reader picks up Book Two and is confused, they won't be engaged by the story and probably won't buy Book One or Three.   If your Book Two or Three is submitted for an award, only this book will be judged and jury readers won't be able to see how the story is structured and probably won't vote for something incomplete.  If the publisher isn't happy with your sales, Book One may be out of print before Book Three....or even Book Two....is released. And readers may not want to buy Two and Three if they can't find a copy of One.
It is much more work to structure a series with a dual plot arc and many resolutions than to do that huge 'slice of sausage' story with a single plot and single resolution, but well worth the effort, in my opinion.  Resolution is resolution is resolution whether you're resolving a huge overarching conflict (will the evil empire triumph?), a smaller, single book conflict (will the hero save his village from the loggers), or a subplot-sized conflict (will the guy and gal get together by the end of the book)
I have a feeling the 600+ pg. tome I read was supposed to be book 1, but the others were never published because it ended so unsatisfactorily.
Mary Rosenblum:  There you go, Gail. Good example. The book at 600 pages was expensive, if the publisher made any money on it at all.  And if the resolution was poor, readers told friends not to bother, and sales were poor.  If book One does badly, book Two may not get published in this very tight publishing economy.

So are publisher then more reluctant to accept the "slice of sausage" plot?
Mary Rosenblum:  Wolf, they are more reluctant to accept them.  You find them out there, but generally, they're by established names in the genre.  If you're a novice writer with no or few credits, it's a hard sell.  Readers have to like you enough to buy the next couple of books, and many readers (I poll readers all the time at conferences) are reluctant to buy a slice of sausage series book unless they hear it's great. The gap between books is generally a year. So if you're dying to read more....you have to wait a year.  If everybody waits, the publisher won't sell enough to justify publishing your next book, so the publishers are reluctant to gamble.  Doesn't mean they don't get published, but think of it as a 'first strike' when you pitch the book.
Just last night, a new (Christmas) story idea came to me. The ending for it, however, eludes me. How do I discover it? By clearly identifying the main (and secondary) conflicts?
Mary Rosenblum:  That's a good first step, Gail.  I often get a story idea and know that my idea for an end is lame.  Identify the conflict and resolution, think about the characters and what's going on with them....and then just let the story percolate in your hind brain. My personal experience has been that if I let it alone, don't bang my head against it, the right ending will pop into my head eventually.
So there is good reason that most books are 200-300 pages right? much longer and publisher is reluctant, much shorter there is not enough meat in it? is that a fair statement?
Mary Rosenblum:  That’s a pretty fair statement David.  Longer means the book costs more.  Now if the marketing department is just sure that this is the next Harry Potter, they may publish your very long book and eat the cost...they won't make as much on each sale  but they'll figure they're going to make up for it by selling a million copies. :-) If that backfires, you won't sell them your next book. 

Never be afraid to pick at a story if the end doesn't work for you.  That's why I like to think about a story before I write it.  When I used to jump in, if I got to the end and it didn't work, the story was set in stone, so to speak. it was hard to change what happened up to the end. And often, the changes needed to make an end work require rewriting from the start.
I have a story that has been on hold for many months, because the ending was trite. When I finally realized that the focus of the story needed to shift to a different topic, the ending was fine.
That's what I'm having trouble with, the re-writing of my story.

Mary Rosenblum: Yes, Linda Ann, the rewriting can be hard. And yes, David, this is why it can be so hard for novice writers to make endings work.  They are usually not an 'easy fix' that can be applied in the final scene.  They usually mean tearing up the flooring, so to speak, and re-doing the plumbing from page one.
It's really hard for me to change my story
Mary Rosenblum: That's pretty typical for novice writers, Linda Ann. It’s  something you get over as you get more experience.
I like it but I get tired of reading it over and over again to make changes.

Mary Rosenblum: Words don't matter, Linda Ann.  Story matters. :-) And don't we ALL get tired of the story!!! It's usually years before I want to reread something I have published!

Mary, what's your best, serious advice for writing one book per year, since to me that seems an unattainable goal , so far.
Mary Rosenblum: Jane, my best serious advice for one book a year, one story a month, one story a week, or whatever goal you want to set for yourself, is to DO it.  When you don't feel like it. When you don't feel creative. When you hate the story.  There is no other way to make it work.  You are NEVER going to love every minute of writing and if you only write when you're loving it, youi're just not likely to write very much. Not enough to launch a career anyway.
Mary, can you give an example of shifting to a different topic? Does that change the story?
Mary Rosenblum: Carz...it's a matter of changing the focus of the story. It changes the central conflict and that changes the resolution. Say your conflict/resolution centers around the MC getting control of a family business. But the ending seems flat. There's not enough there to engage the readers. Ho hum. He struggled, he succeeded, he made money. So you think about it. Hmmm. Maybe it's not about succeeding with the business, maybe it's about doing a better job than the son that Dad preferred and making peace with that lifelong rivalry.  So now the whole focus of the story is about the sibling rivalry and what Dad meant to each of them.  That of course changes your conflict/resolution and the entire focus of the story.  MAJOR rewrite, too.  Your ending might be the same in terms of what happens in the scene, but now it has a very different meaning and impact.  Of your story might be essentially the same, but the ending will be entirely different, since you're resolving a different conflict.
So do you stay more true to the idea at the start of the story and rewrite to an ending that fits it, or do you trust your ending more and rewrite to fit that?
Mary Rosenblum: You do whatever gives you a stronger story, wolf. Might be one thing this time, the other next time. Stories are fluid. Dynamic.  Novice writers tend to make them static...unbendable. As you move toward pro status, you learn how to use that fluidity to make stories work.  When I get an anthology contract I get a theme, a word limit, and that's about it. I have to come up with a conflict and resolution and characters to suit that theme in a story that won't exceed the word limit.

It’s hard to do that but nobody said writing wasn’t hard work.
Mary Rosenblum: Writing is VERY hard work Linda Ann.  A lot of would be writers quit when they realize it's not about dashing off a few words while sitting in the garden and then collecting a fat royalty check.  It's a lot of hard craft work on a story that you can get real tired of by the time it's in front of the public. Generally, when I do go back and reread my stuff much later, after it's been out in print for awhile, I'm always amazed. Gee, that's pretty good after all. I was so SICK of that thing....
How does a writer get started? characters first? lead and intro first or ending first?
Mary Rosenblum: Whatever works for you, David.  The only rule in writing is ‘it must work’.  J
Can you tell us about your very first novel in print, what were the circumstances of finding a publisher?
Mary Rosenblum: Sure, Jane. I had been publishing in Asimov's Magazine for a year or so, and had a novel that wasn't very good that I had placed with an agent. I started writing what was called by the critics 'the Drylands stories'...a series of stories set in a global warming future. I called my agent and suggested that I do a novel in that universe using some of the characters. She agreed. I did it in about 9 months, and she sold it to the third publisher, I think, that she queried.  Just so you all get an idea of what I mean when I talk about hard work when you're breaking in? I was writing about one short story a week, as well as working on the novel. We're talking about 50 short stories a year, on average.  That's pretty common for the successful break-in writer.
Do you think that your publication in Asimov's was THE factor in getting an agent, and did you query agents in the traditional method? And what about your mysteries?
Mary Rosenblum: I did query agents in the traditional manner, Jane, and got turned down by several. My publishing credentials certainly helped, but weren't the only factor. Oh yes...and I was sending ALL those fifty stories out. Don't forget that 'send it out' part of writing!  You know, if you have decent writing talent, and I suspect most if not all of you do, breaking in is all about lots of writing and submitting and that's it. Period. End of story.
The submission part of the equation is harder, for me, than the writing...which is challenging, too!
Mary Rosenblum: Gail, it really is. It's hard to deal with rejections and most aspiring writers, many of whom are VERY talented, never get past this hurdle.  There's no way through that wall except to climb over it.
Can you summarize how your first mystery novel was published, too? And did those publications lend credibility when you queried sf agents?
Mary Rosenblum: Jane, I was asked to write that mystery series. My agent was having lunch with an editor from Penguin/Putnam and she mentioned that they wanted to do a cozy mystery series with a gardener as the sleuth. My agent called me right after, asked if I'd send her a first chapter, outline for book one, and brief treatments for books two and three. By Monday. This was Thursday. I did. It was a busy weekend, believe me.  I had another mystery series that I had started, but as novice mystery writer, I didn't know enough to really watch my subgenres and it fell between cozy and amateur. So it didn't find a home. I'd have to completely change it to make it suit the market.
So it would be a good idea to enter as many short story contests as possible. Any awards there in must mean something!
Mary Rosenblum: Only a few of the  big contests really help you, David. (Writers Digest, Writers of the Future)
Why not?
Mary Rosenblum: They don't prove your work is commercially good, they just show that various contest judges liked it.

So, to sum up  our topic, resolutions grow from the conflict and thus start in the first paragraph.  If your resolution doesn’t seem to work, take a close look at your conflict. Are you sure you’re right about what the central conflict of this story really is? 

Thanks for coming all, merry Christmas, and have a happy New Year!