Fusion Fragment

Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 08, 2024 at 21:21 UTC

Happy to announce that the editor for Saros #1 will be @meganjkerr.bsky.social! Megan, who's previously been published in Clarkesworld, has been one of the most prolific readers on the team after joining FF last year. Stay tuned for more info very soon--submissions will open in August!

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 08, 2024 at 01:29 UTC

To sum it all up, for me: Unambiguous endings aren't necessarily bad, but nuance is important, as is not undercutting the stakes. I like ambiguous endings, but make sure to build towards them with purpose. Thanks for sticking it out on this long thread! 29/29

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 08, 2024 at 01:25 UTC

It's ambiguous in the same sense the "walking into an unknown future" is ambiguous, except that this time the reader is again presented with a choice--will the choice made by the MC be worth the difficulties we know they'll encounter? 28/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 08, 2024 at 01:21 UTC

4) The other that I like is the "This is who I am" ending. Sounds unambiguous, you say? Here's the thing: These endings almost always involve a character making a choice that means significant difficulty for them, but they achieve some sort of self-actualization by doing so. 27/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 08, 2024 at 01:14 UTC

I like these ones because they invite the reader to determine the end in their own mind based on how the story has presented the character. Highly recommend "Sister Martin of the Stars" as an example: www.fusionfragment.com/issue-7/
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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 08, 2024 at 01:08 UTC

3) An ambiguous ending that I tend to like is the "Who am I?" ending. These often have the MC musing on what kind of person they are, but being undecided, as a pre-requisite to some sort of story defining choice they have yet to make. 25/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 08, 2024 at 01:01 UTC

It might be good, it might be bad, but that's not the story that the writer's there to tell. Nothing inherently wrong with that, but so often it feels like a missed opportunity for something more. 24/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 08, 2024 at 00:56 UTC

Generally, these endings follow the successful resolution of the story's plot, but with the caveat that the resolution will not necessarily make everyone happy. The issue with these stories is that they don't ask you to think too hard about what's to follow. 23/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 08, 2024 at 00:52 UTC

2) The unbelievably common "walking into an unknown future" ending. One of the most common endings of any type--in fact, I think I've written about it before. The frustrating thing about this one is that it tends to be the endpoint of a lot of really good stories. 22/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 08, 2024 at 00:50 UTC

If you, as a writer, say "oooooh, what do you think's gonna happen?" at the end of your story it just kinda ruins the magic a little bit, y'know? 21/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 08, 2024 at 00:46 UTC

1) The "unambiguously ambiguous" ending. This is where some character explicitly states to the MC at the end that things might go well or might not. It's the story equivalent of that Friends episode where Monica leaves the breezy message saying "I'm breezy". 20/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 08, 2024 at 00:41 UTC

Alright, back to it. So, ambiguous endings. There's four distinct types that I tend to see--two that work for me and two that don't. Let's start with the ones that don't. 19/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 18:11 UTC

To be continued a little later, when I'll share my thoughts on some common types of ambiguous endings. 18/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 18:08 UTC

So, I'll posit that a lack of ambiguity isn't necessarily the problem here, but that stories that lack emotional nuance are also often the same type of story that choose to be straightforward and unambiguous in their endings. 17/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 18:06 UTC

It was the same ending, basically, except it carried with it an emotional weight that made you think "Wow, he really did it" instead of "he did it, but it was obvious that he was going to do it, and he's gonna go do it again tomorrow" (if that makes sense). 16/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 18:05 UTC

But it's not impossible to get me to like a "Mission Accomplished!" ending. One that came in recently that fell into that category, but didn't resort to the jokey punchline. Instead, love interest gave the "You did it!" line, but in a manner I can only describe as gentle. 15/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 18:01 UTC

My issue with these (again, personal opinion) is that they undercut their own stakes by making light of what (usually) is a high-stakes plot. The last one, especially, gives off an episodic vibe that makes it feel like this is just one of many of these stories for the MC. 14/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 17:58 UTC

The "Onto the next adventure!" usually drops some "...but it wouldn't be the last." type line, or often ends up with the hero wrapping their mission and then getting some sort of call/message about a new crisis, which the hero proceeds to go off to. 13/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 17:56 UTC

The "You did it!" ending is a variation where someone else, most often a sidekick or love interest, does the exact same thing. These are sort of the equivalent of a show that ends on a freeze-frame of everyone jumping in the air in celebration. 12/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 17:54 UTC

Let me first expand on what I mean by these 3 ending types first. The "I did it!" ending typically involves a piece of dialogue or thought from the main character stating that they achieved their mission. Often, it's delivered in a really upbeat or jokey manner. 11/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 17:48 UTC

These consist of 1) The "I did it!" ending, 2) The "You did it!" ending, and 3) The "Onto the next adventure!" ending. These aren't my favourite endings, not specifically because they're unambiguously happy, but because of the manner in which they choose to show that happiness. 10/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 17:42 UTC

First, entirely unambiguous endings! There's a subset of ending types that I think of as the "Unfurl the Mission Accomplished Banner!" endings. 9/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 17:41 UTC

But now that you know my preferences, let's talk about some specific types of ambiguous and unambiguous endings that I see repeated fairly often, and what about them works for me, and what doesn't. 8/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 17:40 UTC

So, these stats aren't perfect, but I can tell you that from looking at the individual stories, there's a pretty close match between the general strength of the story and the strength of the ending. 7/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 17:40 UTC

Two BIG caveats here: 1) If I dislike a story early on, I don't read the whole thing, so note that for the stories I disliked, there's a chance I never got to the ending. 2) For stories I liked, I liked them in general, but didn't necessarily like the ending, and vice versa. 6/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 17:36 UTC

When I broke things down across story ratings, a notable trend occurred. I was a lot less likely to enjoy a story with an unambiguous ending and more likely to dislike it. 5/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 17:22 UTC

The vast majority of people (62%) self-identified their stories as having a slightly ambiguous ending. About a quarter (24%) reported ambiguous, and 14% reported unambiguous. 4/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 17:13 UTC

For today's analysis, I'm disregarding happy vs. unhappy, and just looking at stories grouped into three categories: Ambiguous, Slightly Ambiguous, and Unambiguous. 3/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 17:12 UTC

Today's sample is looking at 72 stories (thanks to all of you who have filled out the submitter's survey). Respondents are asked to rate their story's ending on the scale below: 2/

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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 17:09 UTC

STATS THREAD time! Today, it's time for a deep dive on ambiguous endings, or the lack thereof. Over on the other side @avramargariti.bsky.social called out that endings are a lot more unambiguous than they used to be. So, let's see what's come into the FF submitter's survey, shall we?
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Fusion Fragment @fusionfragment.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 13:25 UTC

We've acquired "The Very Long Death of Katherine Ainsley" by Marlan K. Smith for FF#23! Get ready for some steampunk ghosts!

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