I saw an interesting discussion yesterday about whether a person might prefer stories, shows, or movies that have happy endings or crave reaching that ultimate “downer” of a bad ending. I probably tend to lean toward the happy ending side. What I really like is a good, well-written, clever story. Something that makes you think or surprises you. The article under discussion did go further and covered 4 different examples of how different predictable patterns occur to destroy dramatic tension. Certainly, we all go to a thriller or drama and wonder who will be killed off or which character(s) will be left at the end. I would often speculate with our friend, Stephen, on who will be left standing. We often came close to getting it right. It can be a fun guessing game and you try to determine the pattern or profile they will want to have at the end. What sort of story ending do you like? Can you tell how a story will end or who will “not be there” for the next season?

Tags: Art, Stories