Fiction: Endings Assignment

Part 1

1. What is the plot?
Mary is unhappy with her marriage. Her husband Trent no longer acts like the man he was when they got married, especially after the two of them had children. Trent is not satisfied with anything in his life, but doesn’t know what to do to fix it.

2. What are the major scenes? For each scene, what is the vital question posed?
Setup scene for family arrangement/Trent’s feelings about where his life is heading. Vital question: What does Trent want/where does he want his life to go?
Conflict: Mary confronts Trent about his behavior and how she feels about it. This sparks an argument.
Vital question: Is their relationship in danger?
Some final decision is reached. Maybe the couple split up, maybe they decide to go to marriage counseling, maybe they decide Trent needs his own therapist, maybe they separate temporarily to work out their situation. I have not thought this far ahead.
Vital question: Is this solution truly what was best/what they wanted?

3. What scene is missing from the story or what scene has been under-explored?
I could definitely explore more on how the parents’ relationship affects the children. I don’t even have names for the children at the moment.

4. How could you rearrange the sequence of events and still focus on the character's struggle?
The conversation about how Trent’s behavior is affecting their relationship could probably happen at several points in the story. There could also be more events and scenes interspersed throughout.

5. What external forces stand in the way of your character getting what he/she wants?
The children are a major factor in Mary and Trent’s relationship. They have to consider them when making any decisions about their future.

Part 2

1. What is the internal conflict?
Trent is having an internal conflict regarding what direction he wants his life to take, and dealing with the fact that nearly every outside force he encounters makes him angry or irritated. Mary is dealing with the internal conflict that her marriage is not living up to her expectations, and she doesn’t know what to do about it.

2. What is at stake for your character in terms of the conflict?
Either character could end up going through a divorce. Something is definitely going to have to change, because neither of them are happy.

3. What type of decision does the character have to make at the crisis point?
Mary and Trent have to decide what sort of initiative to take regarding their relationship, if any. Mary will probably initiate the action, because Trent tends not to care about anything in his life.

4. Why is the character ambivalent about this decision?
Trent does not know what he wants to do, because he doesn’t know what he wants in general. Mary wants what is best for her and what is best for her children. She’s not sure that breaking off their marriage will have a very good effect on the kids, and she is still struggling with her mixed feelings for Trent.

5. What action shows your character's change at the end of the story?
Hopefully, something will cause Trent to figure out his life and have an attitude adjustment. I have not yet thought far ahead enough to decide what this something will be.

6.  Fiction Reflection: Now that you have finished the fiction section, reflect on how it went for you.  You might respond to such questions as What do you know now that you didn't know before starting the fiction section? What do you still want to learn? What are your strengths and weaknesses in story writing.
I liked all of the exercises we worked on. They definitely helped me brainstorm what to write about. I might like to learn more about what kinds of descriptive language work best, and how best to structure a story to hold a reader’s attention. I think my strengths in writing happen when I really get a good handle on a character. I’m fairly good at getting inside their head and putting myself in their shoes in order to write what they are going through. I think I have weaknesses in coming up with good plots. A good character is not going to do me any good without a good storyline.