Searching For Unpredictability

 

A few reviewers of Inn Dreams commented that the villain of the piece was obvious. It's true. I would have figured it out pretty quickly myself. It's not that I was unaware of that when I was writing the book, but the fact is, I only added that character so the story would have a villain (it didn't in the first draft). So, going in, I knew what the outcome would be and I wrote toward that inevitable reveal. I suppose I didn't possess the talent to obscure it. In hindsight, I should have introduced the character as likable, though I did try (at first). 

I wouldn't say my writing is lazy, but I do have a tendency to take the easy way out. I will say in my defense that there is a natural conflict between a genre's expectations and a not-so-neat ending.

Some of my stories were fun to write, when the creative juices were really flowing, while others were, "Well, you've gotten this far; you need to finish it." I was never one to abandon a project. I've never read my books once I published them, but I can dimly recall that a few of them petered out toward the end. 

That brings me to my current novel. This is a story I really care about, more than any of the others, and I'm afraid of messing it up. Because of the way it's written, I'm certain it's not going to be a hit. It's a long roundabout tale ~ lots of things happen in the course of the story that I, as the writer, know contribute to the overall theme, but it might be too exhausting for readers and they'll lose patience with it. I've reconciled that. Truly, my target audience is me. And I want to be proud of it.

Now I've (possibly) reached the start of the third act and I'm unsure where to take the story. I've got probably three big unresolved issues, most notably the ending, and while I have a vague one in mind, it might be too predictable. I hate that. For as long as I've been writing, I should know how to do it right; yet I don't.

I would like the ending to be unpredictable, but that unpredictability can't arise out of nowhere. I still have to remain true to the story. I suppose I could ask myself, "What's the most unlikely thing that could happen?" and do some brainstorming. But you know me; I'm not a big idea person. I think it'll just have to flow naturally, so at this point there's no use fretting over it. 

I should add that the ending will need to be satisfying. I don't go for "ambiguous". I'm not writing a series. It'll need to end where it ends. 

In the meantime, I'll just keep writing whenever the opportunity presents itself. Thinking about endings is wildly premature.