Bittwersweet Closure

So, I got part-way through Chapter Ten last night, taking a nice study break and all, and then I stopped. And I couldn’t write any more. Because I realized I was confusing myself, knowing all these things that I want to happen, but unsure of where exactly I wanted to put them. And I realized that, in order to go any further, I would have to write chapters two through nine, which I can’t do right now because of all the other responsibilities I have to nurture.

And that’s why today is not a good day.

I have a math test today and a speech to do tomorrow. Not write, not outline, but do, as in, get up in front of everyone in my class and speak some words. And honestly, I don’t feel ready for either at the moment. And I’m tired of studying, and there are unfinished scholarship applications scattered all over my room that I’d rather just burn. If I’d focused more on school when I really needed to, I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in, trying to get them all done before the end of the month.

The question I’ve been pondering for quite some time is this: which is more satisfying, a sad ending, or a happy one? It’s a very general question that could be answered a bunch of different ways. When we’re talking book-wise, it really all depends on the story itself, not just the ending. When I asked this question of my Facebook friends, here are the answers I got. I didn’t ask any of them for permission to post what they said on here, so I won’t include their names.

Meg wants to know: would you rather a book have a happy ending, or a sad one?

“Happy! As long as it’s not completely unrealistic.”

“Idk.”

“I guess it would have to depend. I kinda like books that have a happy ending, but with a twist that’s kind of not happy.”

” it doesn’t have to be happy as long as it’s good. sometimes stories need sad endings in order to work out correctly. that doesn’t make them any less good, though.”

“What about if it just ends[?]”

Really, all the endings to the novels I’ve attempted to write so far have been bittersweet. Now or Never ended with Kristi admitting to herself that she’d find love someday, even though her feelings for Jay were still lingering. Liz lost her memory forever, but Sean re-connected with his feelings about her, and shook hands with the man he thought she was cheating on him with (even though she wasn’t). Jenny was sad, but Anna finally stopped hating her long enough to feel sorry for her and tell her how unique and special she was. And I can’t tell you how my current novel ends, because it’s just too fun to keep it a secret.

Now that I think about it, the very first “novel” I ever tried to write ended in the same sort of way. The main character’s friend ended up dying from cancer, but left behind reassurance that everything was going to be okay. She wrote her a letter or something, I think. (This was, like I said, the very first novel I ever tried writing. It was the worst eighty pages anyone has ever written. But it had a good message, for being written by a fourteen-year-old.)

But the next two I wrote, a re-write and then a sequel, had happy endings, which was what made them so yuck. The first one ended with the foster child being adopted by the foster parents, happy-happy-happy, ick. It had no point. And the sequel ended in her husband coming back after he’d been gone for four months, and all the bad stuff that happened to her while he was gone didn’t matter anymore. Also ICK.

I may be forgetting one, but I’m not sure. Oh yeah! Mia decided she didn’t want to have an eating disorder anymore. The end. See, I had plenty of good ideas, just lacked the skill to develop them the right way. Not to say I have skill oozing out of my ears, because I don’t. And even if I did (I don’t), I woudn’t be sitting here, bragging to the world about it. I hate it when people do that. Half the time, when people brag, they’re not even that good at whatever they’re bragging about. I think that bugs me more than when people use their Facebook statuses to try to get sympathy from the world. WHICH REALLY TICKS ME OFF. Just saying.

Here’s the thing about things like books and movies. Like I mentioned before, you can’t always determine which type of ending is better if you can’t examine the whole story. Some books, like Mystery Person #4 said (you know who you are, and so do I, and if you’re reading this, I hope you’re laughing), need a sad ending to be good. Because out of tragedy comes good—always. And then, there are some books that need happy endings to be satisfying, or the reader would be left completely depressed and suicidal. And then there are the happy endings that just irk me (there are a lot of things that irk me, if you’ve never noticed), which are (Mystery Person #1) completely unrealistic. Like everyone at prom ending up in the waiting room waiting for Scarlett to have her baby. I love you, Sarah Dessen, but come on. No one cares about anyone else in high school, unless you are an Operation Girl lending a hand to another Operation girl. Which are six people out of the entire population of the world, plus a one-timer who needs to be invited back. So good luck with that.

What do bittersweet endings bring to the table? A good book, for one thing. Because, though bad things may happen, at least something good came out of it. (The thing about two people ending up together at the end of books is, you can’t help but wonder how long they’ll actually stay together before they break up, even though the author never tells you that part of the story.) And then, the reader walks away (sits back? I don’t know how people read) with something to think about, emotion to feel, or something. Those kinds of endings are what give a story purpose. Which is why I personally like them so much.

So tell me. Which would you prefer—a sad ending, a happy one, or neither? And heck—tell me why this time.

Love&hugs, Meg♥