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Today I finished reading the second book in Patrick Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicles and it left me reflecting on the importance of a story’s end. Why do we read a story, and especially a fantasy? Do we want to be dragged into the lives of characters that are endlessly searching without a resolution in sight? I venture most of us do want the story to have a resolution that satisfies us, makes us think, and gives us justification for why we read millions of words to reach its end.

The great books leave us with some sort of resolution. I think of Harry Potter as a prime example. The first books in the series set up mysteries and tension that needed resolution, and when Deathly Hollows arrived in stores, I was in line with my brother for five hours for the midnight release at Borders. And J.K. Rowling delivered! When she wrapped up the story threads in masterful resolution, she proved that all of that time we spent reading Harry’s story had been worth it, because there was a point to all of it.

Both Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear are well-written novels, but what Rothfuss has failed to do so far is demonstrate that there’s a story “thread” that will have a satisfactory resolution. I finished book one and was genuinely shocked. To say it ended on a cliffhanger is an understatement. I was left asking, “What was resolved in this book? What was its overarching plot?” Now, to be fair to the author, it is his work. That’s probably the type of story he prefers. But I cannot help but think how much better his story would have been if there had been a problem set forth at the start of the book and a resolution at the end.

Another good example of a well-executed story arc is Terry Goodkind’s Wizard’s First Rule. From the beginning, you understand the stakes, and at the end you are satisfied that good will prevail over evil.

I say all of this because it is always on my mind as I write my novels. If I was writing the stories without an end resolution in view, I feel I would cheat you as the reader. Can writers always execute this well? Obviously not, but it is a basic guideline that should not be ignored. Every writer must ask the question: “Why am I writing this story? What is its purpose?”

Without a purpose to the story, without resolutions, readers are cheated out of the point which they invested many hours to discover.

Q: What’s your opinion on story resolution and story threads left forever unresolved? Which books did this well, and which failed to satisfy you?

Hello, The Sword of the Dragon Series book 6 has way too much story now for me to tell it properly in one book. Consequentially we need a new title and cover for book 6, and In Search of Dragons becomes book 7.

This is a good thing, because the story I have been writing deserves two treatments in order to allow proper pacing. Would you like to help choose the new title for book 6?
There are three ways you can participate: 1) Comment your choice on this blog post 2) Email me spappleton@gmail.com 3) Facebook fanpage poll vote.

Title options: 1) Among Broken Gods 2) Broken Gods 3) No Other Gods 4) The Gold Halberd

COVER REVEAL COMING VERY SOON😎

I hope this note finds you well! Would you like to vote on a poll to tell me which book format you buy and prefer? I’ve posted it on my facebook page and I tried to post it here, but it doesn’t work here. So here is the Link: Facebook Poll “Which book format do you buy and prefer?”

Our brains all work differently. Personally, I can absorb a lot of information but the order of that information can easily be confused. I know a lot of historical facts but the chronology of events becomes confused, at times, as my brain focuses on the specificities of situations told in story form. These are the building blocks for good fiction writing.

The more we read, the more life we live, then the greater the creative output we will have. All of life informs our writing. We consume data constantly, whether consciously or unconsciously, and that data is filtered through our beliefs, convictions, and preferences.

Do you ever find yourself sitting in a room, whether a coffee shop or in a store, just listening to the people around you? I do. I find people to be alternately intriguing, annoying, infuriating, motivated, lazy, kind, and rude. And as I listen and observe, real life informs the characters I create in my fiction stories. Observation helps us to create characters that are not carbon copies of one another, but rather are uniquely suited to add interest to their story environment.

Admittedly, I have even based a few characters on close friends of mine and family members. The real people inspire memorable fiction characters.

I once heard a preacher say that fiction is truer than non-fiction. It seemed a strange assertion, yet it holds great merit. What is truer than Pilgrim’s Progress, Hinds Feet On High Places, or Ben-Hur? In fiction, every evil deed can be brought to light, and every good thing can be revealed in fuller glory than we typically see in real life.

In my recent book The Soul of Story I did touch on this subject, but it was not the focus of the narrative. I think that fiction is an incredibly powerful tool, which can effect real change in the hearts of men and women. It can inspire us to highlight our best tendencies and reject our worst impulses, becoming the heroes and heroines this world needs, serving God and serving others.

Non-fiction is invaluable as a research and inspirational tool to the fiction writer. The old saying is true: “Truth is stranger than fiction.” That being the case, let’s look to real events to invent originality in our fiction stories.

Q: How does non-fiction inspire your creative storytelling?