Hello again everyone, thank you so much for all the feedback!
I am sorry I didn't reply before, I'll try my best now.
I actually understand what you are coming from. When I started writing I literally based a character off of my experiences and he was a very dark, lonesome and troubled character but I actually never wrote happy endings because I never found like my happy ending yet. For me, I can't write romance because I haven't had success with that. Most of my stuff is like an attraction that fails or a relationship problems. But honestly for me, I make my character suffer because I feel like they have to go through something in order to get to an ending that isn't forced, that is actually an deserving ending that is happy.
How did you overcome this, making character too alike to yourself? I agree on suffering, but sometimes I make character go through a lot of pin and when non-forced ending turns out actually a happy ending I feel like it is too fake.
I like to go for bittersweet. Often, the character achieve their goal, but at great loss.
"Bittersweet" is a perfect definition! But achieving the goal doesn't always mean anything good, like "road to hell is paved with good deeds" (in this case, good achievements?)
One shortcut to gaining more rounded experience is to read more books. Doing so has helped me branch out and create more varied characters and situations.
As for being unable to write happy things, I think that's perfectly fine, and there's a market for that in any case. One creator I'm a fan of (who writes/scriptwrites for the Japanese market, but some in the West know his name), Gen Urobuchi, had a similar attitude. Here's an excerpt from a translation of the afterword to one of his books:
I wouldn't say his endings are "all is lost"-type endings, but they are bittersweet. The main characters find redemption in the end, but lose something in the process -- or gain what they're seeking, staying true to themselves, but lose any chance at redemption. Either way, the ending still works because the story has been building up to the main characters confronting themselves and making those choices.
I guess what I'm trying to say is it's not wrong to write like that, and people will still be interested and buy what you're selling as long as the ending feels right in the context of the story. I'd stick with what feels "right" to you for now, and maybe in the future you'll be able to branch out.
Ah, I know what you mean, I am really active reader, but after I read something I for a while can think in the writing style of the book, and, while I read out of my usual genre of choice, I pick up a lot of new ideas and live through characters( if I am lucky enough to stumble on a good writing, haha).
Thank you very much, this is actually really hopeful, I mean that author with few books published managed to keep going with similar problem like mine, I think I should read a book of his to figure out the whole meaning. Though, it is sad that he feel this way, I feel same, my usual nowadays not-very-happy approach to life makes my writing full of poison that disguises me in my rare cheerful days.
It's just, nothing feels right. When I am fine, my usual writing is interesting, but it feels so wrong, so dark and nasty. But when I've written comedy, on my not-a-cheerful mood I cannot find anything fun and actually original in it. It may make me smirk, reading it and chuckle a bit, but the writing is drastically different. It's not flatter than the dark writing of mine, but it is the one I cannot feel like my own, because me is not such a fun person, as if the real me couldn't write thins light-hearted thing.
One step at a time.
We write. It's usually not as good as we would like. We write some more. We learn. Our writing gets better.
We live our lives. Some days are good. Some days are not so good. Everything adds to our experiences; helps us to become wiser human beings and (coincidentally) better writers. And we look for ways to increase the proportion of good days to not so good.
I wonder if your writing style reflect your feelings right now? You are trying to cram a lot into every sentence. The sentences are tumbling out in quick succession in long paragraphs. It's hard to see where one sentence ends and another begins. So I'm getting the impression that you are feeling tightly wound up, pressurised. Maybe some or all of this pressure is coming from you. It feels like a balloon about to burst, a spring that has been wound up too tightly.
Writing is hard enough without giving ourselves more pressure than we need. So if you can't write happy stories at the moment - then write some damn good unhappy ones. Live, love, experience, enjoy, learn.
But most of all, don't worry. One step at a time.
some days are good, some not, you say. I am not sure I have terrible mood swings, rather it is my personality, because I either have super-good days or totally-terrible ones. It makes it really hard to harmonize it in my writing. Thanks, your answer actually just made me realize that I do not put enough effort on filling my life with meaningful happy days.
Your guess is correct perhaps, For recent years I've been under constant stress and I've got into vicious circle or having jobs I hate and that drain me or having no job and money otherwise, and getting out of this circle as soon as I want is impossible. I my go through same stuff few more years which makes me depressed enough to think that maybe I never get out alive of it. Having a job I love is vital to me but impossible now, I cannot find happiness in anything else until I get out of this.
This is actually scary how clear you've seen me just by the way my sentences and paragraphs are done. Gosh, I am more of an open book that I ever knew xD
"Live, love, experience, enjoy, learn." - am I stubborn to believe that I cannot experience it until I fix my problems? When I think of allowing myself that, I remember that I have a problem I must fix urgently and it is kind of a bummer on any fun. Anyway, your answer is really helpful, made me actually think hard(though not exactly about writing haha).
Write the unhappy endings you want to write. Get it out of your system. Nothing wrong about an unhappy ending.
If I get it out of my system, will it be easier to write something lighter next time? Do you have such experience or something? Thanks, I'll try it out.
Yeah. And for teh record, there are many writers who've made careers outta doom and gloom books. (Genre figures in though. Romance has to generally be upbeat for instance.)
Yeah, that's why I ask, because when it comes to genre I have idea about, I really want to make the story HEA, but I kind of force it to end up badly, happy endings that I have in ideas feel so unrealistic and soap opera style... maybe I should find a reader because I think I may be seeing my writing distorted at some point.
Horror stories tend to have very bittersweet endings. You can put your characters through all sorts of darkness. You can have romance and technology and whatever but the only HEA is survival.
Hmm, I was never really into horror, or maybe I do not realize what horror is? Like the SAW movies were more of a psychological thriller to me, it is really hard for me to get chills from a book. Or, for example, Resident Evil franchise is probably survival horror, but uhh, again, is it horror really?
It is hard to relate to this for now, but I like that idea very much, I can already feel my brain cells working, survival as HEA is surely something I can work out, I like such stuff but never thought of incorporating it in the writing on purpose.
I'm admittedly not a great reader of romance, but aren't Nicholas Sparks' novels for instance notorious for the tear-jerking? I have some vague impression that there's usually some kind of terminal illness or other tragedy involved.
Lots of people enjoy reading/watching tragedies. For the carthasis and stuff.
Inspired by your question, I had a look at a recent blog post I made about ten of my favourite books - Of those ten works, only one ended happily, two had a bittersweet ending, four a decidedly tragic one (often with at least one of the central characters dying in the end without accomplishing any of their goals) and three sorta kinda didn't technically end at all, since one is an uncompleted series (which I expect to put down under the "bittersweet" column, eventually), one was never finished because the author died (but it ends at a point where the unhappy ending is clearly on the horizon) and one is such a non-choronological postmodernist clusterfuck that you kinda have to piece the ending together yourself (and I probably missed a lot, but I would also put my projection of that ending in the bittersweet category).
ahaha, I just understood that though I have plots in romance genre with morel likely HEA, I am not not much of a romance reader either. And for me too, my favorite books are rather powerfully written than being inspirational and full of hopes and sometimes rainbow ponies or something.
They aren't shelved as romance, which requires an HEA/HFN.
What is the genre then? For example, a book has romance but is full of drama and no HEA, which genre would be then chosen as major for such a book?
Write darkish sarcastic and ironic stories--why not?
Ben Elton, Martin Amis, Iain Banks--excellent writers all.
Also there's the modernist literature--
pre-LSD Aldous Huxley, the mighty
Chekov,
Fitzgerald the impeccable, John O'Hara's Appointment in Samarra, Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano,
The Brothers Karamazov, Gogol's standard-establishing
Dead Souls,
Maxim Gorky, . All terrific writers.
In order to handle the emptiness, people raise a shield of toughness. Raymond Chandler, Mickey Spillane, Dashiel Hammett.
Or black satire, like Tom Sharpe. Any Kingsley Amis (Martin Amis's dad and the better writer, although the son kicks ass too).
In short--it doesn't have to be just horror. It can be about life and about romance and about relationships (or, indeed, about dragons and maidens and spaceships and blasters), but without the sugar and the forced linear logic.
I.e. real literature.
Maybe you're becoming an adult, or something
Thank you for such a comprehensive list! I'll look at those authors. I recognize first half but never read it( what am I even doing on AW if I read so little, gosh! shame on me).
Yeah, this may be close to my abilities. But I kind of fixed on the question how to pull out unforced happy ending for certain stories that feel to me completely spoiled when I destroy characters' lives and hopes because I cannot overcome my own despair in real life.
Yeah, I fell like an adult lately, I always hoped I'll never feel this way because it is kind of tragedy on its own. the "adult" who feels like going to school again would be a good idea actually, less worries more chances than I realized then...
There are no happy endings in real life. All endings are at best bittersweet transitions from a life we know to unknown territory.
I do like to give my characters some closure, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're going to be happy about it.
Oh, that is depressing
Haha, I can imagine a smirk on the last par of your answer
maybe happy endings are just so rare that it is unbelievable they exist, especially on our days when media brings so many illusions at such a cheap cost of a tv or web connection.
You have to remember that you aren't writing about yourself and your own life, you're writing about characters who are other people, and for readers, who are also other people.
If your life sucks, start a diary. In fiction, give both the characters and the readers what they want.
Correct, but how can I make a character that has quite different personality from mine and make it believable? "fake it till you make it" doesn't work with major characters, though I understand that first hand experience is not necessary..
I write diary almost every day for last 5 years at least, apparently i should spill out to it before starting writing anything other, to clear my head, hmm.
Thanks, I actually forget that I should think of the readers. I do want to publish someday but I am always concerned about telling the story the way i want in stead of telling it the way the people would need in order to understand my ideas.
You could maybe channel that frustration and try writing angst?
Haha, good advice! but angst through the whole book, wouldn't it be quite annoying? I actually have a story like that and the amount of angst is the main concern. The plot is supposed to be without HEA but angst was also not what I planned, it kind of makes action bleak.
Until a few years ago, all of my stories had dark themes and ironic twist endings. Even the one time I attempted to write comedy, it ended up being dark, with a surprise ending that cast doubt on the main character's sanity. But I was good at those types of stories, so there wasn't any reason for me to stop writing that way.
I honestly don't know if it's related or not, but a few years ago, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and got on anti-psychotic drugs that made a HUGE difference in my life. Now I'm able to get out of bed on a daily basis and get things accomplished. I write for a living, and I own my own business, too, which was unthinkable before the meds. These days, I don't write dark, brooding stories. Actually, I don't really write short stories at all anymore--I'm focusing on three romance novels, plus a non-fiction book, and a bunch of magazine articles.
Don't get me wrong--I'm not saying you have a psychological problem! As I said, I don't know if getting on medication changed the way I write or not. It could just be a coincidence. Maybe I grew out of the dark writing phase.
Either way, it didn't hurt anything for me to write dark, disturbing stories. It made my family raise their eyebrows a bit, but no harm was done. I guess it boils down to whether you mind writing this way. If you want to write differently and can't, you might investigate the possibility that you are depressed or anxious. Or you could try to find other reasons for your inability to write happy, lighthearted stories. Maybe talk to a therapist and see if they have any suggestions.
I think I am at the same shoes now, every comedy I plan truns into much serious thing once I work on it for a while, and my intentions are quite opposite, I crave for a light-hearted story.
Well, I am not offended, i believe everyone has some kind of psychological problem once in a while at least. i actually visited therapist but nothing serious came out. Plus I automatically become a bit different person in front of others, especially if I am treated the way as if i am grown up. i mean, I am not that cocky in real life, but when people believe in me, say that I have what it takes etc I become what they think I am, I become full of inner power that I lack again once i am out of the door realizing I was wearing a face that maybe was real once but not now.
I am totally depressed and anxious and I cannot fix it for now. And therapy didn't work as I hoped though I got a lot of help for slightly different matters which may be more significant in stead of concentrating on my negative feelings.
When I watch movies, if it's a sad ending I always think, well this actor is only acting, and so even though their life sucks in this movie, they are a millionaire and I can't feel sorry for them because in reality their life is WAY better than mine. If it's a happy ending, I feel fine because it usually picks me up and makes me feel good, smile, laugh or whatever. But with books, since the characters are fictitious and there aren't any actors, I just about always need a happy ending to walk away feeling fulfilled from that story. But, maybe writing happy endings just isn't your thing. I'm sure there are plenty of readers who could be drawn to your writing, even if it leaves them without a happy ending. I say that if it works for you, go with it. If you feel like you are forcing happy endings, just do what doesn't feel forced. And if you can't write about characters that are very different from you, then write about characters you can relate to.
Haha, maybe you watch wrong movies? If the actor is good, for me, at least, it is hard to view the character as an actor, i am completely immersed in the fictional story.
I start to think that maybe I force sad ending? i mean, I dislike the idea of my characters being unrealistically happy that I ruin it for them even if the plot needs a good ending. Thank you for advice.
I'm not a big fan of feel good, happy ending stories. There are things in my life that I'm unhappy about. Okay, maybe a lot of things. But I tend to keep most of "me" out of the story. My life story is pretty boring so why would I want to write about that? My characters have bits of other people I know or have known. Even so, there is always a small bit of me in most of my characters. I can't seem to help that, but I don't wallow in that unhappiness. I make it a part of the plot. I make it an issue. Something that has to be overcome. Maybe it is overcome, maybe it isn't. Depends on the direction I want the story to take. Good characters have faults and weaknesses, just like the rest of us.
I guess my advice is, don't let the unhappiness control the character(s) or story. Your characters don't have to be as helpless as you feel. Let's face it, most of us are powerless over our surroundings and situations. Because you are writing, you are overcoming some of that helplessness. That's a good thing. Give the characters some of your strengths.
It's not that I write about my life using my characters, their problems are really different, rather their way of thinking is close to mine, as if they are me in alternate universes - raised differently, another lives but still, quite same response 7 times out of 10 or so.
"Your characters don't have to be as helpless as you feel." that's really well said, I feel like handing it on a wall
because it fits so much my situation. Strengths? In general I am quite down for a long period of time, hard to see that I have any strengths, i do feel powerless but due to many failures in professional life i also feel I lack what it takes, I feel cheated by compliments I've ever received, I do not believe in myself anymore(which would sound fake to some considering that I have so much irrational pride and arrogance in my opinions... or maybe i just repeat opinions I used to have, lying to myself, pretending i am still strong).
thank you everyone, now that I've read each answer again and gave a serious thought to answers, I see how helpful each of you were, i am glad I've made this thread, I do not feel myself as a part of a writers' community(just like with any crowd, online or offline, just a personal problem, nothing personal, sorry, haha) but i feel welcomed and cheered, maybe even ...hopeful again?
Thank you everyone.
(gosh that ended up as a huge post...)
