The Book Doctor chimes in…
Q: I’ve written a short story [synopsis deleted]. I had three people–one fellow writer and two avid readers who are not writers–read this story and provide feedback. They all love the story, except each one told me that she doesn’t like the ending. Each offered suggestions for alternative endings that range from fairy tale to Barney the Dinosaur endings. (I love you; you love me; oh, how happy we will be.)
I ended it the way I did because it made more sense to me. [The protagonist] grew up a little and learned that sometimes it’s okay to assert himself, even if it brings conflict. Our hero was content with the way the story ended.
I know I’m writing for a market, and I want my stories to entertain and satisfy readers. But I don’t feel right ending a story in a way that I personally think is a cheesy cliché. Should I write something I wouldn’t read myself, just because others like it? Can I even trust the response of such a small sample of readers, even though their independent feedback concerning the ending is resounding and consistent? I know this is a terribly subjective question, but I’d like to know what you would do.
A: You may be asking the wrong person. To be able to make a living writing, I have made it my motto that “I’ll write anything for money.” As a result I have written and/or edited many things that did not reflect my personal opinions.
Examine your motives. If indeed you are writing to sell your work, you do have to consider the market, and if you consider the market–your focus group sounds like a small but good specimen–you will change the ending to suit the market. If you write for yourself without hope of selling your work, you can write anything you want, including gibberish, and it won’t matter. In that case, you can make the ending as unpleasing to the public as you wish, because in reality the public will probably never see it.
You are the god who created your story. You can control the outcome, depending upon your goals. As you know, the endings of many movies have been changed when focus groups did not like the first ending. As a result, some movies have become blockbusters that may have otherwise bombed, if the ending had not changed.
Bobbie Christmas, book doctor, author of Write In Style (Union Square Publishing), and owner of Zebra Communications, will answer your questions, too. Send them to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. Read more “Ask the Book Doctor”
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