too many setups, not enough endings

[Hypoxia]

I am very disappointed with many so-called 'ideas' posted here. Think up something improbable or ugly and see what story can be spun from it. Feh. I like to think of endings first, then construct a story to explain it: How Did They Get There?

* The naked pastor's wife, or maybe the naked pastor, is about to be ejected from the pop-open cake at the stag party. How did they get there?

* The videos were released showing her triple-penetrated by three rival presidential candidates, not all male. How did they all get there?

* He proudly struts nude down Fifth Avenue to roaring approval at the head of the largest parade in the city's history. How did he get there?

* Person wakes up in bed with a headache and a blank memory, naked; they roll over and finds somebody inappropriate or unlikely, also naked: relative, priest, celebrity, orangutan. What happened the night before?

* News item: Rescuers are called to break-apart a nineteen-woman daisy-chain at a Goddess retreat. How did they get entangled?

* He ran and ran and nearly dropped with exhaustion. The huge crowd of sex-crazed women obsessed with his precious bodily fluids had almost caught up with him. How did he get there?

* Yes, they were fraternal triplets, each with a different father, of a different race, different from her own also. That was a wild night, yes? And why is she not concerned?

* She leafed in disbelief through the stack of genetics reports, DNA analyses, relationship traces. It couldn't be! All the kids in town, all the boys and girls she'd grown up with -- ALL were cloned from her! What is the horrible secret of Samesville?

Almost any such can be done with the final scene in the opening, then the story told as a flashback, then return to that final scene again. Except for surprise endings, sure.

 

[sirhugs]

I love to write and read stories that start in media res

 

[Hypoxia]

I love to write and read stories that start in media res

I'm thinking less of in media res than bookending tho I use the latter less -- so far! I suggested, in the FEMINIST TORTURED BY GUARD thread, a story opening with a woman considering the torturers' heads mounted on her study wall, then the story of how she and they got there, and ending with her back in the study with the heads and a punchline. Perfect bookending!

EDIT: For more fun there's the circular narrative. Our player starts off somewhere doing something, has many hypersexual adventures, and ends up right where they started, re-entering the cycle. Chip Delaney did that with DHALGREN, a perfect read when bedridden and feverish for days.

 

[sunandshadow]

It would be convenient to have inspirations for endings, but endings are so often boring and un-memorable. They almost by definition are not surprising if you know the middle of the story. Of all the novels and short stories I've read, I can remember very very few that had interesting endings one might want to emulate.

I mean look at this list of typical endings:
- they got married and lived happily ever after
- he rode off into the sunset looking like a BAMF
- it was all a dream and/or mistake
- he went crazy
- everyone got their justly deserved rewards or punishments
- the foozle was finally placed in the special location, activated with a ritual, and the supernatural threat was ended (or the wish that turned out badly was undone)
- the first child of the new dynasty was born
- the new or newly rebuilt school or company finally opened it's doors


Some of these are pleasant, but mostly they aren't very interesting.

 

[Hypoxia]

It would be convenient to have inspirations for endings, but endings are so often boring and un-memorable. They almost by definition are not surprising if you know the middle of the story. Of all the novels and short stories I've read, I can remember very very few that had interesting endings one might want to emulate.

I think many of the examples I gave are of the "end before the ending" type. The naked clergy haven't quite left the cake yet and that matters less than the backstory. I also like writing (much to some readers' discomfort) surprise O.Henry-type endings, and edgy hanging endings left to readers' imaginings. We have options beside Happily Ever After and Happy For Now exits and the usual trite resolutions.

EDIT: Some of my stories are inspired by a single image; that image, which need not be sexual in and of itself, is the story's conclusion. I need to tell that image's backstory. Maybe a photo of an automobile hanging suspended high in the air from a crane's cable -- the story is of the couple (or triple) trapped inside and how they got there. What happens next? I dunno and it doesn't matter.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

Sorry, dear one, but surely you're not suggesting that we all do it YOUR way, are you? One of my first Lit stories came from this thread and introduced to me the hot mess known as 'Loving Wives." (Doing It for You if anyone cares.)

Your examples are fun, however, one could make a case that they are just as empty as anyone else's suggestions without a stronger suggestion for what makes these characters unique fascinating. For example, a naked pastor in a cake is intriguing. A naked Baptist minister holding his bible over his hard prick before popping out in front a group of naked Wiccans adds a bit more color. As would knowing he's intending on giving them a "Fire and Brimstone" sermon. And, that he happens to be a little person with a massively large prick whose wife has left him for being too boring in the bedroom.

I'm suggesting color and shading matters, too. Quite often, I look back over the sex that happens in any of my stories and marvel my characters got away with it all. No way could/would/should any of those things happen in real life. Ah, the miracle of suspending disbelief!

 

[Hypoxia]

Your examples are fun, however, one could make a case that they are just as empty as anyone else's suggestions without a stronger suggestion for what makes these characters unique fascinating. For example, a naked pastor in a cake is intriguing. A naked Baptist minister holding his bible over his hard prick before popping out in front a group of naked Wiccans adds a bit more color. As would knowing he's intending on giving them a "Fire and Brimstone" sermon. And, that he happens to be a little person with a massively large prick whose wife has left him for being too boring in the bedroom.

That's exactly what I suggested. We start with the image of the nude rabid parson in the cake. Then we jump to his perverted childhood (he loved squirting accelerants down antholes, igniting them, sending them to Satan) and playing devils-n-angels with toy soldiers -- till he was 18. After his pathetic adulthood (he only graduated seminary because Daddy) we see him abduct the hired cake-jumper and prepare for his proselatory leap, sermon memorized, prick in hand -- let's roll! The story ends just as he flexes his mighty thighs. We need nothing more.

EDIT: Nothing more, except a brief epilogue: He leaps from the cake... and confronts the team of rescue workers frantically trying to untangle the hot 19-woman daisychain. Yes, he picked the wrong Goddess retreat to infiltrate.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

That's exactly what I suggested. We start with the image of the nude rabid parson in the cake. Then we jump to his perverted childhood (he loved squirting accelerants down antholes, igniting them, sending them to Satan) and playing devils-n-angels with toy soldiers -- till he was 18. After his pathetic adulthood (he only graduated seminary because Daddy) we see him abduct the hired cake-jumper and prepare for his proselatory leap, sermon memorized, prick in hand -- let's roll! The story ends just as he flexes his mighty thighs. We need nothing more.

For the record: Fuck, I like you!

 

[Hypoxia]

For the record: Fuck, I like you!

Your place or mine?

Hmm, one more non-ending: One LIT member is about to press another's doorbell -- they met in the Forums and this is their first date. The story isn't of the date but how they reached that point and how many flaky LITsters they've gone through previously. That last session with babyeli33 did not go well at all...

Another: Our narrator nonchalantly strolls down the road, whistling brightly, while a block behind them, an adult bookstore w/gloryholes spectacularly explodes. Had they anything to do with that? What led to this moment?

See? Merely take any image or event and build a sexual backstory. Three teddy bears on a shelf -- what's the horny history? A period author pounding THE END on their manual typewriter -- what did they report? Someone snaps-shut their packed suitcase -- what are they running from and to? A Ferris wheel spins to a stop -- what happened while it spun? All these could have numerous setups and stories. The options are infinite.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

While these ideas are rich and interesting, none seem to get my inner Muse to take notice. Oh, she smiles, nods, and whispers, "That Hypoxia is a fun one, but that's not how we work, is it?"

No, I'm afraid my Muse and I need a bit more flesh on the bones of our ideas before words become sentences and the need to write gets in the way of everyday life. We seem to need an unresolved crisis and the character(s) facing that crisis for that to happen.

Often it may appear as a trite outline: "Best friends share a forbidden kiss that sets them on the pathway to becoming forbidden lovers." That was the bait that hooked my Muse's attention and generated "Avril's Fool." The Muse could work with that idea. She knew "Okay, they're best friends, but why are they forbidden lovers. We better make that damn clear. How long have they been best friends, bucko? And why the hell haven't they just done it yet if they are so hot on each other?"

With "Filled with Joy," I wanted to how I could make a very in-the-closest, gay protagonist win the girl. If I put enough temptation in front of him, would he find his way out of the closet and into her arms?

Still, I respect the hell out of the peek into your process. I like how you flesh out the kernel of an idea, adding around it until there's some real meat there. It would be fun bouncing ideas off you, but I'm afraid it would take a bit longer before my Muse decided to join the party.

 

[Hypoxia]

I let these endings drive or at least suggest the setups. Three words never uttered in Washington DC politics are, "What happens next?" Most bare setups are right there -- okay, so some female relative walks in on Junior beating his meat ("Hey hey, Uncle Fudd! It's a treat to beat your meat in the Mississippi mud!" / la la la) and sooner or later they're engulfing that mighty member, yada yada. What happens next?

Start with the ending. Mom, Aunty and Sis are hanging around Sonny's joint nursing the babies he's given them and chatting about his tongue. How did they get there? Maybe Mom's little sister Aunty started it years ago when she sat on the edge of the tub whilst to-be-studly young Sonny bathed. She splashed water in his face and laughed. He swore to nail the tease when he turned 18. She gave glowing reports; Mom and Sis had to see for themselves. Many fuckfests followed, and fatherhood, and now Sonny needs a job. He slaves away whilst his women gossip. Happy for now...

Too many stories with fixed setups go off into trite endings. Ending-first keeps it lively.

 

[hashtag45]

* Person wakes up in bed with a headache and a blank memory, naked; they roll over and finds somebody inappropriate or unlikely, also naked: relative, priest, orangutan. What happened the night before?

* He ran and ran and nearly dropped with exhaustion. The huge crowd of sex-crazed women obsessed with his precious bodily fluids had almost caught up with him. How did he get there?

These two sound interesting.
Could you please ellaborate?

 

[Hypoxia]

* Person wakes up in bed with a headache and a blank memory, naked; they roll over and finds somebody inappropriate or unlikely, also naked: relative, priest, orangutan. What happened the night before?

These two sound interesting.
Could you please ellaborate?

Waking in bed naked next to a priest, whatever your gender, should prompt any number of backstories, especially if they're a close relative. Again, your memory is blank. Think of a good excuse.

As for the orangutan: No, you did not have sex. Probably. Maybe the ape's keeper (who might be a relative) is sleeping on their other side. Maybe the keeper merely played a weird joke on you -- their buddies are there with iPhones recording your amazed awakening.

Story titles and first lines I wrote a couple years ago:

Lost In The Jungle - Professor Czolgosz did his best to suppress his immense but doomed attraction for Lila, the matriarch of the orangutans. He was just not worthy of her love.

Honky Tonk Chimpanzees - I knew my heart was lost when Bertha blew me her sweet simian kiss.

Oh yeah, that's another writing technique. Write write eye-grabbing titles and enticing first lines. I don't actually generate many stories that way, but they're fun...

 

[hashtag45]

Waking in bed naked next to a priest, whatever your gender, should prompt any number of backstories, especially if they're a close relative. Again, your memory is blank. Think of a good excuse.

As for the orangutan: No, you did not have sex. Probably. Maybe the ape's keeper (who might be a relative) is sleeping on their other side. Maybe the keeper merely played a weird joke on you -- their buddies are there with iPhones recording your amazed awakening.

Story titles and first lines I wrote a couple years ago:

Lost In The Jungle - Professor Czolgosz did his best to suppress his immense but doomed attraction for Lila, the matriarch of the orangutans. He was just not worthy of her love.

Honky Tonk Chimpanzees - I knew my heart was lost when Bertha blew me her sweet simian kiss.

Oh yeah, that's another writing technique. Write write eye-grabbing titles and enticing first lines. I don't actually generate many stories that way, but they're fun...

Awesome scenarios and stories, and kudos for creativity.

My fav.was this one: "Maybe the keeper merely played a weird joke on you -- their buddies are there with iPhones recording your amazed awakening."

I I'd like the idea of her/him waking up in bed with an urangutan and believing the worst, and being absolutely mortified. None of it being true of course, and being anything but a prank pulled by her/his roommate.
Followed by her/him being blackmailed and teased by the roommate, with all sorts of funny situations coming from that.

 

[Hypoxia]

Awesome scenarios and stories, and kudos for creativity.

Edison nailed creativity: 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. But thanks anyway. Now I need merely kick my lazy muse into gear, and work at writing this stuff.

I I'd like the idea of her/him waking up in bed with an urangutan and believing the worst, and being absolutely mortified. None of it being true of course, and being anything but a prank pulled by her/his roommate.
Followed by her/him being blackmailed and teased by the roommate, with all sorts of funny situations coming from that.

Strictly, this would be in media res, starting in the middle. Wake with an ape and no memory. Fill in backstory. Flash-forward to immediately after waking, and proceed. Maybe set a desired ending: The orangutan rides a motorbike into the soft sunset. Now plot the storyline to that fade-out, maybe involving a nearby carnival and a drunken dogcatcher's spouse.

 

[hashtag45]

I
* She leafed in disbelief through the stack of genetics reports, DNA analyses, relationship traces. It couldn't be! All the kids in town, all the boys and girls she'd grown up with -- ALL were cloned from her! What is the horrible secret of Samesville?.

This one was in fact the best imo - the most original of them all. I watched quite a lot of dystopian/sci-fi movies + a few novels, and I haven't come across a similar scenario.

I'm intrigued by it and I would hate for it to get lost in the typical incest short story. It would be so nice if it evolved into a sci-fi story with several parts, like Beth Revis's "Across the Universe" or the movie "Divergent"!
Sci-fi/dystopian stories and movies featuring empowered heroines are the It at the moment, as far a. the younger generations are concerned.

 

[Hypoxia]

This one was in fact the best imo - the most original of them all. I watched quite a lot of dystopian/sci-fi movies + a few novels, and I haven't come across a similar scenario.

I'm intrigued by it and I would hate for it to get lost in the typical incest short story. It would be so nice if it evolved into a sci-fi story with several parts, like Beth Revis's "Across the Universe" or the movie "Divergent"!
Sci-fi/dystopian stories and movies featuring empowered heroines are the It at the moment, as far a. the younger generations are concerned.

That was sort of a riff on my Jenny Be Fair, given a SciFi spin. Again, I start with only that terminal image of her reading reports. She's aghast at what she learns. It explains why all her cohort are comfy fucks -- Genetic Attraction Syndrome! The backstory could follow her many fuckfests, then her suspicions, her drive to study genetics, shadowy characters lurking on the fringes, and finally the awful truth. In a sequel or epilogue she turns the tables on the manipulators and takes control -- spawning more generations of clones so she can take over the world. Jenny uber alles!

 

[MagicFingers]

Not enough endings?

Of course this thread is about setups. The name of the thread is "Story Ideas". Then people give ideas to expand the story idea, and maybe someone will write the story. Then you have to go read it to find out how they got to the middle and end. I've gotten some good ideas here and wrote one story years ago that came out ok. How about starting a story endings thread? I don't think it would go over well.

Endings: And they lived happily ever after
Be sure to read part II
There, that covers it.

 

[Hypoxia]

Endings: And they lived happily ever after
Be sure to read part II
There, that covers it.

That's just it -- are many other places to stop telling a story. The telling image, or the suspended / ambiguous ending, or a joke / incongruity, or a start-over, or a nasty twist, whatever. Try some O.Henry.

 

[Raziel83]

Endings: And they lived happily ever after
Be sure to read part II
There, that covers it.

Except that you can mention WHO lived happily ever after and in what kind of situation they were and that will work as a much better inspiration and offer greater variety.

...Besides, there is always "and then the adventure continues" ending which is also popular.

It is also quite fitting for an erotic story. "The repairman left the house and the satisfied wife who still had his cum leaking from her pussy behind, another job well done." (Ok, that's a cliche/classic but you get the point.)

 

[MagicFingers]

Yes, but

That's just it -- are many other places to stop telling a story. The telling image, or the suspended / ambiguous ending, or a joke / incongruity, or a start-over, or a nasty twist, whatever. Try some O.Henry.

I just don't know if we want to see all the endings in this thread.

However, I'm beginning to see the possibilities of different endings so I might be changing my mind. I am on the last scene of that 2 or 3 part story that I'm ready to post except for finishing the ending.
It will continue for at least one more chapter so I have to end this part pleasingly and open interest for the next part. So thanks for the ideas!

 

[Hypoxia]

In past discussions I've mentioned other writing techniques.

* Like my ending-first gimmick, I may see a specific image that must be in the story, maybe but not necessarily at the end. I build the story to explain / exploit that image.

* I may base a story on recorded events and thus know pretty much how it goes. To write, I visualize it as a video in my head, and blog it, then flesh it out till it's interesting.

* I may define a universe, a setting with players, give them a few plot points, then set them loose to be themselves. I need merely transcribe their thoughts, words, and deeds.

All these allow much exploration and improvisation. But the truism is true: If you don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up somewhere else. Journal-type accounts and endless series need not *go* anywhere specific. But often an author wants to make specific points about the human condition or certain mindsets, or craft a piece with certain desired effects. For such we can structure the tale with a classic basic plot; we know where it's going. The destination is firmly in mind.

Such a basic plot can be as simple as "Comedy: the low raised high; or Tragedy, the high brought low". That's why I'm disappointed in so many Story Idea 'setups' -- they point in no direction. "Jamie discovers mind-control powers and can make anyone their sex slave." And then what? Does Jamie take over the world, or succumb to arrogance, or go off into endless (yawn) fuckfests, or what?

 

[BuckyDuckman]

. . .But the truism is true: If you don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up somewhere else. Journal-type accounts and endless series need not *go* anywhere specific. But often an author wants to make specific points about the human condition or certain mindsets, or craft a piece with certain desired effects. For such we can structure the tale with a classic basic plot; we know where it's going. The destination is firmly in mind.

Such a basic plot can be as simple as "Comedy: the low raised high; or Tragedy, the high brought low". That's why I'm disappointed in so many Story Idea 'setups' -- they point in no direction. "Jamie discovers mind-control powers and can make anyone their sex slave." And then what? Does Jamie take over the world, or succumb to arrogance, or go off into endless (yawn) fuckfests, or what?

Yes and no. Writing is a process requiring inspiration/vision. Writers without a destination in mind tend to ramble on and on about minutia. They chase dead-ends. Their stories sometimes read as unfocused as their vision. But where does inspiration begin?

I respect Hypoxia's method. I'm enjoying a glimpse into an alternative process. I haunt the Story Ideas thread regularly and the majority of the set-ups I see do little to inspire. "I want someone to write a story about my sister. . . " or "I want someone to write a story about my wife. . ." set-ups are a dime a dozen around here and relatively worthless as inspiration.

Hypoxia's suggests offers a bare bone glimpse into real conflict by citing the climax and a small glimpse into character without revealing how they got there, who they really are, or how the story is going to end. Her suggestions feel like elevator pitches and I like them.

I often start a story with little more than an incomplete premise, sometimes as little as a title. I don't know where I'm going beyond a general sense of "Head West, young man." I may wind up in northern or southern California, but I do know I'm heading west. I may travel through Arizona or perhaps a more northern route through the Bad Lands.

And I often wind up writing many more words than I keep. I tend to edit as I write, often realizing I wandered into a dead-end after I reached the brick wall. But I often learn details about characters that inform me. And once I see the real destination, I'll rewrite, revise, and remove all the bullshit. At least I hope I do.

 

[Hypoxia]

I often start a story with little more than an incomplete premise, sometimes as little as a title. I don't know where I'm going beyond a general sense of "Head West, young man." I may wind up in northern or southern California, but I do know I'm heading west. I may travel through Arizona or perhaps a more northern route through the Bad Lands.

And the road trip is a perfectly fine platform. Many of my setups are basically only, "They hit the road and stuff happens," allowing for much free-form improvisation and multiple fuck-a-thons. Some of those have indeterminate 'endings' and can easily be extended. I posted Left Behind in Mature because I wanted the MILF to (somewhat) commit to a guy half her age. That's the nominal 'destination'. But it's really a road-trip story that could go much further. Many events along the way surprised me because they just popped out from the characters and settings. Even short tales like Make Me Scream! and Right Under His Eyes with their predetermined endings have scenes that emerged on their own. Yeah, all that intuitive stuff happens.

But (you were expecting a but, right?) but mandating a fairly specific ending makes for a nice challenge. I needn't 'chase' the ending so much as make sure I get there by an interesting path. I'm cooking a medieval story now, starting and ending with an aristo-scoundrel fugitive racing across rooftops of Turin or Lyon whilst arrows fly at him from pursuers on the streets below. Why are the guards after him? (He screwed the local count's wife/sister.) Why is he in town? (Fleeing from his prior indiscretions.) What does he see whilst running? (Some hot 3-ways.) Those are described in flashbacks. Does he escape, and how? (An old woman opens a hidden door -- but she's tricky.) From that rooftop scene, all else flows.

Next challenge, based on reality: [reality] We drove through a small Nevada village at dawn and saw a man walking a strange animal down the road -- a porcupine. We talked to the fellow and he told of riding his motorcycle with a porcupine on his lap, and watching TV at home with a porcupine on each knee. [/reality] The challenge: build an erotic story. How did he land here, and with porcupines? (Maybe he was an ANIMAL PLANET producer.) What bizarre love life drove him to the desert? (Maybe he was targeted by Tantric obsessives.) What awaits him at home besides porcupines? (Maybe three hot Guatemalan women. Maybe were-porcupines.) What happens after we leave them? (We pull onto a side track, throw blankets on the ground, and fuck like weasels.) See, start with a simple scene and fuck with it.

 

[Carnevil9]

I must respectfully disagree with the OP here. Personally, I think endings are overrated.

When I watch a movie, or read a book, I rarely remember the ending. After all, the ending is, well, at the end! Once it arrives, the story is over, and I move on to other things. I never dwell on it. I tend to forget about it!

What I do remember, often for life, is the central conflict of the story. Not only because that is the most interesting part of the story, but also because that is what I spent the most time thinking about. After the opening act, and the conflict is introduced, I spend the entire rest of the story (movie, book, whatever) dwelling on the conflict: how will they resolve it? Will the hero survive? Will the boy and girl get together? Oh how will they ever solve this problem?

But once the problem is solved, there is a nice burst of music, the credits roll, and I'm on to something else. Not enough time for it to seep into my brain. Besides, endings always seem so arbitrary. Did Frodo get the ring into Mount Doom? Did Ilsa get on the plane? Did Rhett and Scarlet get back together? Who cares! The author just made it up, probably flipped a coin, and it could just as easily have gone the other way. I'm not impressed one way or the other.

Anyway, that's how I see it. Not that I think everyone should agree with me, but there you have it.