Did Rich & Janie Make It?

This is the "ending" of the unofficial challenge I brought to my faithful readers on Vocal. The quest was to "Pick the type of ending (from those in Cole's article) and answer the question of what happened to Rich and Janie...did they make it or not?

*"Great endings linger in the mind. They leave readers in a state of catharsis that can last days after they’re done with your story. It’s one of the reasons why people end up with book hangovers." (Cole Salao)

Albeit a daunting challenge, it was also a teaching and learning lesson for me (And, hopefully perhaps for other readers?) Again, hats off and much appreciation goes to those who inspired the original storytelling with their own challenges, Babs Iverson & Randy Baker:

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

In his outstanding article, (highlighted on very top,) Cole Salao gives some great advice on writing endings to our stories (my input strictly in italics):

* Discover your central question. In this case, it is "Did Rich & Janie Make It?

* Make sure events lead to a believable ending. Readers have spent significant time looking for clues, so tie it all together and make it make sense...

* Pull out all the stops. "Ask yourself what the readers will feel and remember after finishing your book/story. Make sure you leave your readers with a powerful image. Often, this image answers the central question in your story."

* Don’t cram. Too much information can bog the story down. Trust the reader to draw conclusions by giving space for the most important details of the ending. (paraphrased)

* Don’t use a cliche ending. "Use a cliche as a base but turn it into your own ending. You want to make it familiar enough for the reader but different enough that they’re not able to guess how things happen."

* Essentially, a great ending has three things: a resolution, an element of surprise, and a transformation.

1) It must resolve the central conflict you introduced in the beginning

2) Satisfying endings must also always have some degree of surprise.

3) And lastly, the story must end with the characters having undergone character development. They must no longer be the people they were during the start of the story. This change signifies that the journey they went through had an effect. Whether it’s good or bad entirely depends on you. (Cole Salao)

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The One & Only entry for this unofficial challenge:

John Cox gives us:

John, you've ALWAYS been a WINNER in my book and your story, Dear Hearts, proved me right, once again! I see why nobody wanted to follow suit after reading your "ending." Clearly, you nailed it. Congratulations!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your readers understand from your story (that ends mine,) that true love takes hard work, dedication to the commitment/bond, and attainment of a fine balancing act between selfishness and self-lessness.

Some of my favorite parts from your story:

* We know how their story might end because we have all experienced love's highs and the lows, the angry silences and the tearful make ups. We faked it when we had to as well. We negotiated its arduous pathways knowing that all cannot follow it to its end.

* Ask me in December ...when their hair is white, when their wrinkles are deep folds in their faces...when decades of suppressed hurt and ill will floated like poisonous mists in the stillness of their home.

* ...they still managed to build a life together, however flawed, rocky and faked.

* Is love untested truly love? Facing death tore down emotional walls in each of them...Ask me in December, dear hearts, after Janie and Rich stopped faking it forever more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for this perfect ending, John! I had always seen them in a lasting relationship, but understood that communication would be the underlying obstacle. I did see them moving to Janie's small town and establishing a growing family and law firm. But, as you said, a time would come to test (by fire) the golden core of their hearts.

I think if Cole Salao read your ending, he would concur with me and from all your reader comments that it was "a great ending!"