Fiction Vortex - September 2013

by Fiction Vortex

  Once you understand how these work, you’ll be able to see how they fit into your own stories. You’ll also start to see ways that events and character choices can do double-duty with two or more of these resolutions.

  Daniel Hope is the Managing Editor of Fiction Vortex, where he’s also known as the Voice of Reason. He recently published a science fiction novel, called The Inevitable. He can be found on Twitter @Endovert, or at his author site SpeculativeIntent.com.

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  Stick the Landing, Pt. 3: Common Mistakes in Story Endings

  by Daniel Hope; published September 30, 2013

  It's always important to talk about the path you should tread, the straightest road to success. But it's also important to know things you should avoid along the way. There are plenty of traps that will ensnare you or distractions that will divert you from your goal. So now that we've talked about what should be in an ending, let's talk about the things you should leave out.

  Below you’ll find a few of the biggest mistakes writers make when wrapping up a story (of any length), all of which show up regularly in our submissions folder. As with the examples in Part 2, these are general and may even overlap a little.

  The “Bet You Didn’t See That Coming” Ending

  Imagine you're at the headquarters of the 42nd precinct Literary Police. You've seen plenty of rough characters in your day; the Grammar Goof who left a trail of prepositions straight to his hideout; the Spelling Sinner who has a pathological need to steal vowels and swap consonants; even the Flat Man who sneaks in and removes all the interesting bits about characters. But then a bad-ending crime is reported, and the comma cops bring in a lineup of possible offenders for identification. That’s when you see him: The Twist, the most insidious and inhuman of them all. This is the ugly fellow, webbed in scars, with a maniacal laugh and a twinkle in its eye that says, "Yeah, I killed the endings. All of them. What are you going to do about it?"

  The Twist doesn't care about you, and he certainly doesn't care about your story. He'll convince you that you're clever, then slit your story’s throat without a moment's hesitation.

  While The Twist can be coerced into working for the good guys, it happens so seldomly with endings that you should really think twice about using it, especially if you're a new author. There's a reason M. Night Shyamalan movies usually get groans instead of gasps. The Twist will stab you in the back nine times out of ten.

  Here's the problem with twist endings: No one wants to feel foolish. Most twist endings are just a bait and switch. Writers think people want to be fooled. What readers really want is to be wowed. They don't want to get to the end and read the equivalent of "... and then everything I've been telling you for the last 5,000 words turned out to be a lie. The characters you loved were really ghosts/dreams/serial killers, and nothing that happened really mattered."

  Most writers fall in love with the idea of the twist, and then try to construct a flimsy excuse of a story to precede it. No one wants to read this. A good twist needs to reinforce what the reader has already learned by shedding new light on something, not rip the rug out from underneath them. You’re better off putting the twist in the first half of the story and spending the rest of your words letting the characters deal with it.

  Please, keep The Twist off our streets. Do it for the kids.

  The “She Did What?!” Ending

  One of the most confusing things for readers is when someone in a book acts out of character or changes without reason in order to facilitate an ending. The formerly implacable villain suddenly finds a soft spot for his orphan victims, or the staunchly pacifistic protagonist kills all the bad guys in a hail of bullets.

  The problem isn’t necessarily the change; it’s the abruptness of the change. Both of the scenarios I just mentioned are plausible if you give enough motivation over the course of the story. But if you throw this change in without establishing the foundation, it feels wrong to the reader, and it makes the whole story feel false.

  The “Deus Ex Machina” Ending

  You’ve heard of this one because it’s pretty common, and it’s ridiculously frustrating. The phrase means “God from the machine,” but it refers to magical, unexpected, or otherwise incongruent circumstances that wrap up the conflict. It’s the ending where someone says, “Oh hey, wait, we have this gun on the table. Here, I’ll just shoot the bad guy who has been chasing us through this very house for 300 pages. *Bang* Now, what were you saying about wishing we could make it out of this alive so we could explore these sudden romantic feelings growing between us?”

  While this problem can seem formidable, it’s often an easy fix: Go back and edit the story so the thing or person that resolves the conflict is established as existing earlier in the story. Or you can come up with a different solution that feels realistic within the confines of the setting, circumstances, and characters you’ve already created.

  The “Already Said Everything I Wanted to Say” Ending

  Some writers either get bored with a story, or they don't know how to wrap it up. Stories with this problem stop without a proper denouement or speed through it too quickly. Usually, this is because the author had a great idea for a conflict or climax, and didn't think about how it would actually play out. They got to the part they liked, and then just quit.

  This kind of ending leaves the reader wondering what the real purpose of the story is. Pay attention to the characters and the themes. Create interactions where these themes play out naturally, and then let the story end itself. Give the reader a look at the consequences of the conflict and how it affects the characters.

  The “I Can't Stop” Ending

  This is the opposite problem. The author loves the character or the plot too much to stop. Eventually, they peter out into a bland, uneventful ending as they flounder around for a proper place to exit the story. Some say J.R.R. Tolkien had this problem with the Lord of the Rings series, but that is probably a discussion for another day. Regardless, it doesn’t mean you should do it, too.

  The solution to this is nearly the same. Focus on the themes and characters, give the reader enough resolution to feel like they understand the consequences, and then get out. You don't need a flowery soliloquy. Let the characters understand the consequences, and then hit the eject button.

  The “What Characters?” Ending

  This is a symptom of a bigger problem, namely that the author didn't care about the characters from the beginning. It's common among writers who love world-building. This type of story ends with something like this: "And thus Darltyn plunged the Dagger of Winterhell into the sorcerer's neck. Immediately, the frosty fingers of death came rolling down the mountain and licked at the blades of grass tainted by the Blasted Summer..." and then continues on into a long dissertation of how weather affects the economics and politics of Ylandriaton, never mentioning the protagonist again.

  What happened to Darltyn, the guy we spent so much time following? What about his minstrel-thief companion and their lovable golem assistant? A good ending gives us a taste of consequences, big or small, but the focus mustn't be displaced. Even if Darltyn's sole and all-consuming goal is to release the frosty fingers of Winterhell, we need to see how this affects him and his companions. Tell us how this ending affects people, not just plots.

  The “Do You Get It?” Ending

  This ending is common among writers that are too clever for their own good. You know the ones; they took a bunch of lit theory and philosophy classes and make allusions to Camus and Derrida while picking quinoa at the supermarket. There's nothing wrong with that, unless they try to write a story with a cryptic ending that's supposed to be profound.

  That's not to say you should hold the reader's hand and explain every last detail. Just give the reader enough to connect the dots.

  The “One More Thing” Ending

  This is the most literal and least elegant kind of ending. The author wants to make sure he covers his bases, so he gives us everyt
hing in short bursts, and the result sounds like a to-do list. "Taylor died. Ruth felt terrible about it. The vampire decided to take a break, and signed up for a knitting class. Everyone else got over the shock and went back to their lives. But Gary never forgave Theresa. Never."

  This kind of ending makes the whole preceding story sound insignificant. Give the characters and conflict their due. Try to identify the most important character moments and themes. Then follow those until the reader understands what happens.

  The “Look Who’s In Charge Now” Ending

  This is a tricky one because some of the greatest stories feature a well-executed role reversal to great effect. But a role reversal isn’t something you can just throw in without justification and character development. We’ve seen enough serial killers turned into victims, and victims turned into torturers.

  We understand that it can be cathartic, and even a form of retaliation, but the concept itself is rarely enough to justify the story, no matter how cool it sounds. You must justify everything based on the actions and events that preceded it, or it turns into a hollow revenge fantasy.

  ~~~~~

  There are plenty more ways to flub the resolution of a story, but these are the main categories to look out for. This list will be especially useful during the revision process when your beta readers report a problem but can't quite articulate what it is.

  Most of all, don't get discouraged if you see your ending on this list. Once you identify the weakness, you can fix it.

  Which bad ending do you despise the most? Let us know in the comments. And don't forget to refer back to Part 1 and Part 2 of this series for more help crafting a great story ending.

  Daniel Hope is the Managing Editor of Fiction Vortex, where he’s also known as the Voice of Reason. He recently published a science fiction novel, called The Inevitable. He can be found on Twitter @Endovert, or at his author site SpeculativeIntent.com.

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  Book Review: Glyphbinder

  by T. Eric Bakutis

  review by Mike Cluff, published September 20, 2013

  Glyphbinder by T. Eric Bakutis is a full, stand alone fantasy novel set in a completely new world. And that is why my hat is off to Mr. Bakutis—to create a new world (complete with mythologies, landscapes, different cultures, and other details) and successfully contain it in one book is not an easy task. Especially if that book is the author’s first.

  The process of releasing narrative information and exposition, pacing it perfectly so it isn’t an info-dump, is very complicated and Glyphbinder has a lot of information packed into it. It is obvious that Bakutis worked hard to nail down every detail (he even says the book was a 15 year process). As a reader you need to be prepared to take in that information. Bakutis has the release valve at the right setting, so you won’t get overwhelmed.

  But I almost think this one book could have been spread into a series. Why do I think that? Well, because there are a lot of really details that were very interesting, things I wanted to know more about. I guess that is a sign of a good book though.

  Now, what is the book about?

  Glad you asked.

  Kara Tanner wasn’t alive for the war that almost destroyed her world half a century ago, but she, and everyone else in the Provinces, live with the consequences. Relationships between the Provinces are tenuous at best and those, like Kara, who work glyph magic are striving to keep the peace and make sure that same magic is never used for evil again.

  At Solyr, one of the academies created to train and regulate glyph mages, Kara is at the end of her studies and has a high chance of becoming a Royal Apprentice. However, Kara doesn’t want the position for its prestige, but for the resources she needs to cure her mother of a fatal illness.

  On her journey to save her mother, Kara learns that the effort to retain peace in the Provinces is crumbling and that an ancient evil, once thought banished, is gaining hold of Kara’s world and everyone she loves. But Kara doesn’t know that she is the only one that can set everything right.

  Despite the slow beginning, this book offers a lot of action. In fact the last half is non-stop action, with the last fifty pages feeling like someone turned on the nitrous.

  The parental part of me must warn that the violence gets a bit thick in a few spots, but not in an unnecessary or overdone way. I guess I just get squeamish about torture.

  Because of the cast of characters and the depth of the world contained within, Glyphbinder is an entertaining and memorable fantasy novel. The magic is set forth with rules and boundaries, so all of you fantasy junkies (myself included) don’t have to worry about cheesy characters with cheesy powers. The glyph mages have strict consequences for the magic they practice, but I don’t want to tell too much so I will leave it at that.

  Glyphbinder is available at Amazon.

  T. Eric Bakutis is an author and game designer living in Maryland and a lead content developer on The Elder Scrolls Online. His short fiction has appeared in Fiction Vortex and will next appear in the Fairly Wicked Tales anthology from Angelic Knight Press. His debut fantasy novel, Glyphbinder, is now available from McBryde Publishing. His professional website is www.tebakutis.com.

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  About Fiction Vortex

  Fiction Vortex, let’s see …

  A fiction vortex is a tornado of stories that pick you up and hurl you through a barn to find enlightenment on the other side. It’s a whirlpool of fascinating tales so compelling that they suck you in, drag you down to the bottom of your mind, and drown you with incessant waves of glorious imagery and believable characters.

  Nope.

  A fiction vortex is an online speculative fiction magazine focused on publishing great science fiction and fantasy, and is run by incredibly attractive and intelligent people with great taste in literature and formidable writing prowess.

  Not that either. But we’re getting closer.

  Founded in the 277th year of the Takolatchni Dynasty, Fiction Vortex set out to encourage people to write and publish great speculative fiction. It sprang fully formed from the elbow of TWOS, retaining none of TWOS’s form but most of its spirit. And the patron god of writers, the insecure, the depressed, and the mentally ill regarded Fiction Vortex in his magic mirror of self-loathing and declared it good, insofar as something that gives writer’s undue hope can be declared good. Thereafter, he charged the Rear Admiral of the Galactic 5th Fleet to defend Fiction Vortex down to the last robot warrior.

  Now we’re talking.

  Take your pick. We don’t care how you characterize us or the site.

  Fiction Vortex focuses on publishing speculative fiction. That means science fiction and fantasy (with a light smattering of horror and a few other subgenres), be it light, heavy, deep, flighty, spaceflighty, cerebral, visceral, epic, or mundane. But mundane in a my-local-gas-station-has-elf-mechanics-but-it’s-not-really-a-big-deal-around-here kind of way. Got it?

  Basically, we want imaginative stories that are well written, but not full of supercilious floridity.

  There’s a long-standing belief that science fiction and fantasy stories aren’t as good as purely literary fare. We want you to prove that mindset wrong (not just wrong, but a steaming pile of griffin dung wrong) with every story we publish. It’s almost like we’re saying, “I do not bite my thumb at you, literary snobs, but I do bite my thumb,” but in a completely polite and non-confrontational way.

  We've got more great stories online, with a new story twice a week. Visit our website FictionVortex.com, follow us on Twitter: @FictionVortex, and like us on Facebook: FictionVortex.

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