Friday, 28 December 2001

I've been thinking a lot about how to rewrite the story that Ellen Datlow expressed an interest in. I think I know how to do it.

On the Clarion 2001 mailing list, we've been talking about happy endings, and how they're hard to write. One of the reasons I have trouble writing happy endings simply has to do with length: I take so many words getting a story (in terms of the Hero's Journey) to the Dark Night of the Soul, that it ends up being awfully long if I bring it from there all the way to victory for the hero. So I tend to end my stories on a down note, and then just imply a somewhat hopeful future.

I find such endings can work for me.

But I think my rewrite for this story will end up replacing that ending with one that works through the full Hero's Journey, with a leap of faith, confronting evil, and victory.

I hope it works.

First, I still have to finish the mummy story.

I didn't do that tonight. Tonight Jackie and I watched Moulin Rouge. What an odd and interesting movie! Interestingly, it's kind of the same story as the one I've been thinking about. It's a good worked example of how the ending I picked is the wrong one.

I have a lot of writing to do. Fortunately, I have a four-day weekend to get it done in.