Endings
The need for change
One of the issues that came up from the last workshop was the apparent lack of an epiphany or going off of the Chekhov's gun. In other words my story gave the impression of not being a story at all or perhaps not providing a satisfying experience for the reader. This might have been because the character in the second draft of my story failed to undergo some form of change. Change seems to have been a fundamental feature of stories since Aristotelian times. Gustag Freytag visualised this transformation with the pyramid below.
Changelessness
However, after reading Returning Character's to life (Jauss, D. 2010), I realised that a story did not necessarily need to follow this predictable structure. Jauss identifies twelve ways in which Anton Chekhov subverted these traditional endings. Here is a mind map I created to lay these out.
Applying these subversive endings to my third draft I have tried to aim for a 'temporary climax' in which my character returns to his previous state after an epiphany. However, due to his new understanding of past events the reader should hopefully understand that he will suffer even more than he was at the beginning. There might also be an element of a 'false climax' too, as the final message initially presents itself as good news but then as you read on the reality of the situation becomes clear.
Plot types
Looking back on the different plot types suggested by Friedman (1955), I feel like my third draft has moved towards a ' disillusionment plot' under the category of plots of thought. This is because the unreliable narrator gradually loses his credibility and is forced to accept a job which could cause suffering for others like himself.
Here is a visual representation of how the third draft of my story will be structured.
References
Jauss, D. (2010) Returning Characters to life: Chekhov's subversive endings, published in The Writer’s Chronicle, Vol. 42, No. 5 (March/April 2010), 24-35)
Friedman, N. (1955) Forms of Plot, Journal of general education, Vol VIII
Images
Freytag's Pyramid: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plot_(narrative)
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