Comments on: Story – Why You Need a Happy Ending – Part 2

By: Happy Endings – Just Do It!

Happy Endings – Just Do It! — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:47:57 +0000

[...] Bottom line, we all have to eat. The best way to live as a writer is to sell your stuff, and in my experience the best way to sell your stuff is to give it a happy ending. (And no, I’m not all about the money. Far from it. Some of the best stuff I have ever written has been highly paid, and some of the other best stuff I’ve written I’ve done for my own amusement for no money at all. It’s interesting – when you are truly engaged in a script the money is actually irrelevant.) Read the followup article. [...]

By: Kurt

Kurt — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 05:22:40 +0000

Sure you can have an unequivocally sad ending if you want. Not because there are “no rules”, but because everybody’s free to make their own mistakes.

A sad ending is a mistake simply because it will only appeal to a very narrow range of people, but a writer wants his story to be heard by as many people as possible.

We have to never forget that audiences are very savvy. They know that what they’re watching is “made up”. Made up and acted and presented to them at a price to entertain them.

A movie with a sad ending says right out loud that its writer isn’t as concerned about entertaining them as he is about saddening them. Every audience knows that subconsciously.

And, hey, who likes or admires or respects a person who wants to sadden people? Nobody.

By: Bill O'Slatter

Bill O'Slatter — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:54:15 +0000

Philosophy this ain’t. have you covered all the categories ? as Sandyer points out , happy and sad are the twin drooling idiots . Whether audiences need this to buy your story is another question. The story, as you point out is the thing : the ripping yarn. It’s good to see that writers for Coronation street went on to Life on Mars.

By: Sandyer

Sandyer — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 03:41:09 +0000

What about the ambiguous ending?

By: Milli Thornton

Milli Thornton — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:11:22 +0000

In the realms of screenwriting advice, this article was one of most refreshing and heartwarming things I’ve ever read.

When I was younger I believed in feeling and taking on the pain of the world. I watched so many tragic movies and read so many deep and tragic books it probably helped damage the health of my brain.

Unbeknownst to me, I’d been suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for several decades . . . and this morbid practice certainly did not help.

Once I discovered my diagnosis, I set out to heal my brain. One thing I did was stop digesting so much dark material. I turned to comedies, adventures and romances—and chose my dramas carefully—and this became part of my healing.

I feel as though I’ve rediscovered the joy of movies. It doesn’t mean everything I watch has to be happy-happy; but I’ve rediscovered my passionate connection with feelings such as inspiration, upliftment and the capacity to be touched (rather than torn asunder).

Personally, I’m done with being torn asunder! I want to be happy. And I want to see happy endings taking place around me.

I became a grandmother last June and this has re-taught me the secret to life. When I see my grandson so alive and curious—and so happy because he knows his mom and dad love him—it reminds me that, as adults, sometimes we’re a little too sophisticated for our own good.

The purpose for life is to give and receive love. Happy endings further this purpose; tragic endings usually don’t.

There are definitely tragic stories that need telling (in the hope the human race will learn from its mistakes and become more compassionate, less power-hungry) but that doesn’t mean there’s no place for joy or hope in that story process.

This reminds me of a quote I saw from Sting. He and his band were scheduled to play a special concert on the evening of 9/11/01. When the horrific news came in from New York, Sting had to decide whether to cancel the show. He decided to go ahead with it. He said:

“You know, we were all put on this earth to be happy. We all deserve to be happy. They can’t kill our joy. We can’t let them do that.”

P.S. After years of reading (and writing some) book reviews over at Amazon.com, there’s a phenomenon I’ve noticed that helps prove Phil’s argument. Over 75% of the time, readers will vote *against* a negative review—even if the book richly deserves it. This is because people want to hear good things; not only about themselves, but about the world at large.

By: jack123

jack123 — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:11:24 +0000

People who believe strongly enough that there’s no joy to be had, no release from their pain and stresses, usually kill (or excessively medicate) themselves – not very good for audience numbers; in turn, not too good for those who are brave enough to risk their hard earned sheckles producing the work.
Also, there’s a subtle irony inherent in a happy ending, isn’t there? A tacit agreement, a pact, between writer and viewer, a theatrical conceit, because we all know what the ending really is, don’t we?
We know that when the high-wire walker momentarily loses his balance, yet regains it in the nick of time, that he hasn’t really cheated the reaper, merely deferred his enjoyment a tad. And, in the wire walker’s deferment, his slipping of the chill, boney clutches of the reaper, there’s a glimmer of hope, hope for us all that we too may put off the inevitable, just a bit, and isn’t that why we applaud them? Bring on the happy ending, I say. Let it be a holiday in the sun, a reprieve from the grim reality, a breather from the rat race, because, when word gets round that there’s a breather to be had, the bums will be on seats in their thousands.
Now, talking of grim reality, I’ve got to get to work and it’s freezing outside. Oh, I’m H.A.P.P.Y, I’m H.A.P.P.Y. I know I am, I’m sure I am. I’m H.A.P.P.Y

By: mlewys

mlewys — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:08:29 +0000

I’ve read Joseph Campbell as well. Of course, I do believe that MACBETH has a happy ending because the bad king dies and we are left with hope for a better future. Just because it’s labelled “tragedy”, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a happy ending.

Every writer will face that supposed “sell-out” moment. I created a wonderfully strong, witty female character once for a comic. The artist drew her as a compact frame, small breasted woman with no hair. Our editor said, “I can’t sell this!”

At the time, comic books were still geared towards 12 – 14 year old boys. I doubt Wonder Woman would even exist today if she wasn’t all curves and rope. So, we had a choice to make: we could either shop our comic around to see if anyone else would take a chance on a couple of unknowns, or change how the character looked. We didn’t change how funny and strong she was, she simply grew curves and hair.

Did we sell out? I thought of it more as a way to introduce 12 – 14 year old boys to a funny, strong-willed woman that they might not normally see in comics.

When working in a group art, there is always compromise.

By: Sal

Sal — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 20:46:09 +0000

Good to see you are still with us Phil. Anyway, to the point…Initially, I was going to say: ‘There are no rules – why can’t we have unhappy endings?’ Then, I tried to remember things I’d seen with tragic endings. I racked my brain, but I couldn’t recall any. I KNOW I’ve seen them, so why have I forgotten them? Then, I thought about some of my favourite films – It’s A Wonderful Life, A Matter Of Life And Death and Dumbo. They all have happy endings. I guess that while my head says ‘Anything goes’, my heart always leads me back to the light. And long may it continue…