I wonder how many stories are out there that start with a fantastic premise, but end with a yawn? The phrase, "It's not the destination, but the journey that matters," describes my feelings on it. There seem to be a lot of them coming out from Hollywood recently (their dismal box-office returns this year so far demonstate that). What happened? I'm sure many talented people worked on the projects, and I doubt anyone planned on making something boring. Too much red tape? Too many hands twisting the story this way and that?
What grabs me in a story are the events the likeable characters go through that lead up to the ending. The story is a natural progression, guided by the author, that allows readers/viewers to guess what's coming up. I think that's a lot of the fun of stories, where we get to play along and try to see ahead to the end. It's exciting when the story twists away and leaves us surprised, not because it didn't make sense within it's own story rules but because we didn't guess right.
I'm sure we all have experienced the ending where we roll our eyes and holler, "Excuse me, but how does that make sense?" So, the question is, what can writers do about that? I'm sure the biggest thing is having an overall designer, and design. Outline, storyboard, whatever you need to give the big picture at a glance. Even if it isn't written down, have some idea where it's all going. Do that and I'll bet the rest falls into place.
- M
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