Unhappy endings
One thing I have noticed while watching TV films and reading many novels during lockdown is how many storylines grab you and then suddenly cease without a proper ending. Sadly the trend appears to be on the increase.
I always ensure in my scribbling that there is a decent plot followed by a decent finish to the story. I and many of my friends complain of having wasted a couple of hours watching a film or days reading a book only to feel bitterly disappointed when they are left without sensible conclusion – the idea being floated that the reader/viewer can form their own idea of an ending.
Quite frankly I think that’s a cop out: that the author/scriptwriter has run out of ideas and has cornered him/herself into a situation and can’t come up with a viable ending and so falls back on that excuse to escape criticism. I urge my fellow writers not to fall into that trap because it annoys people.
Just to add hope to those who fail to get recognised, thanks to subscribing to Writing Magazine I am now at long last getting my work published, so don’t get dispirited.
I read with great interest, Antony Johnston’s article Free
Dec). Finding a comprehensive way to balance work/life with the seven items that our short-term memory can hold has always been challenging for me.
Fast forward to March 2020 and having been furloughed and made redundant during the early part of lockdown one, I found myself with more time than I have ever had in my entire lifetime. From being a single parent of three children under four, balancing trying to be a good mother, working to pay the mortgage and life flying by, I now have an empty nest. I no longer have elderly parents to visit but yet I have struggled to use all my free time effectively. I have completed a draft of a novel. However, much of this was written prior to lockdown. The luxury of having so much time has created a fog around me that was starting to blindside my creativity and free time was becoming a curse not a blessing. I’m now rethinking my day. We all need a ‘safe place’ to offload our tasks and to organise our time no matter how much we have. Thanks, Anthony, for re-programming my way of thinking.