: Is this too depressing? I’m a young author writing a fantasy series. I decided to try writing the ending first because I was having trouble writing the first part. In my second book, they’re

@Berumen699

Posted in: #Characters

I’m a young author writing a fantasy series. I decided to try writing the ending first because I was having trouble writing the first part. In my second book, they’re supposed to lose, and this guy’s girlfriend is killed after he’d betrayed everyone he knew trying to save her. The bad guy escapes after he kills the girlfriend.
Here’s a few paragraphs so you can get the feel of the situation:

I woke up propped against a wall. My head hurt. The stab wound in my gut felt like it was on fire again. My friends were gathered around me. I stared at them, still unable to speak.
Suddenly I remembered Emma was dead. I looked down and started to cry. And I mean really cry. I wept into my hands, horrible sobs racking my chest. I had never let myself cry like this before. It hurt. In fact, everything did. I was lightheaded and dizzy. My friends voices sounded far away. I stopped crying and took a long, slow, raspy breath to steady my vision. I felt hollow and weak. I knew I was still badly injured.
Camryn looked me in the eyes. ”I forgive you.”
My breath was ripped away. I had completely forgotten I’d put her through the exact same thing. Even though I felt like bawling, I was too weak to start crying again. My gut was warm and wet, and I realized I was bleeding through my bandages. But I deserved the pain. All of it. I’d deserved for Emma to die.

It goes on like this for a bit, him summing up all the things he did wrong and completely giving up, asking his friends to kill him and just get it over with so he can finally be with his girlfriend. Of course they don’t actually kill him, but they can’t even think of a good argument to why he shouldn’t give up. This is the ending to the book.
Is this a little too depressing? My targeted audience is middle school age, and my characters are 16.

Vote Up Vote Down

0 Reactions   React

Replies (1) Report

Login to post a comment!

@Connie138

@Connie138

Go for it:
Why not? People love a happy ending, but you can give them that in book 3. The Empire Strikes Back left the story pretty bleak, but everyone knew there was a chance for recovering in the next movie. There are plenty of places where life sucks, and in middle school, I hated being patronized. And I still remember 16 - everything seemed like the end of the world. It is a needed lesson that no matter how much things seem to suck, you are still there and need to go on.
So model moving on and finding purpose after everything seems doomed. Is there a third book? You can end a middle book in a dark place, since a loyal reader is waiting for the third. Your character can organize a new reason (revenge, new GF, defeating the enemy in a novel and unexpected way, making amends - whatever) but the third would need to end a little better. Look at the last Hunger Games movie (spoiler alert: it's pretty bleak, but so is war). The lesson is there is always something more to lose and always something to live on for.
Good luck.

Vote Up Vote Down

0 Reactions   React

Replies (0) Report