Worth writing, if end is obvious

Question

I am currently sketching a novel about people at the end of time, some months or years before the Big Crunch:
There is a space station full of people who can only sit and watch as their final moment draws closer and closer. There are several different characters involved, from the rational boss, who tries to keep everything running (why? Because it's his job, he's responsible to make sure everyone survives as long as possible), to some religious people who finally meet their gods, to some young overly curious scientists who cannot wait to see what's coming, to the depressive maniac, who tries to blow up everything before the Crunch.

My problem is: From the beginning on, the reader will know, no one will survive and the let's call him Captain is fighting a useless struggle, because it is the Big Crunch. He can basically only sit and watch and help others getting along in their final moments.

Is this idea worth being written, or will the obvious ending drive readers away?

Answer 1

Just because The Crunch happens doesn't mean that your protagonists all lose.

Yes, the obvious antagonist is The Crunch. But is that all your heroes are fighting? Is that all they're striving for?

All your heroes are facing imminent doom. That does things to people. They may lose faith, or gain it (the religious folks — and they can have diverse reactions). People cling to routines (the boss) or descend into hysterical nihilism (the maniac).

You don't have A Plot as much as A Series of Character Arcs. Those individual conflicts are interesting and worth exploring. The Series of Arcs is the point of your story, not the Inevitable Crunch.

Also, who says The Crunch has to kill everyone? Maybe you have a side thread of a ship rushing to save everyone, or somehow divert The Crunch, or The Crunch is actually a way to pass into another universe. et cetera. Then you have both the resolution of the various Character Arcs and the exploration of what happens when people prepare themselves for death but it doesn't happen.

If your givens aren't working, change your givens.

Answer 2

The ending is obvious in most books. In a romance, will the heroine get the guy? Obviously yes. In a detective novel, will the detective get the bad guy? Obviously yes.

Wanting to know how it ends is not actually about wanting to know the facts of the ending, or no one would ever reread a book. It is about wanting the experience of the ending.

A novel is an experience, not a puzzle. It's appeal depends on how compelling an experience you create, not on whether we know how it ends.

But also, what matters to us about the end of story is not what happens but how the characters face what happens. Stories are a kind of emotional rehearsal. A book such as you describe provide an emotional rehearsal for facing death. There is a huge appeal in that.

Answer 3

I would like to second the notion of what Mark says. Most stories, you know the ending. These endings are obvious because they are the cookie cutter stereotype plots that is and comes EXPECTED of said genres. The trick isn't that you fooled them with the ending. No one will want to read it again because the trick is now known and the whole mystery element that you build the book around loses it's appeal for reread value. We read these epic hero stories like Lord of the Rings over and over again. We read books that are pretty much an exact copy with different character names and hail it "refreshing". Adding your own spice and twists certainly ADDS to the story, but it shouldn't be the FOCUS of the story.

We read books because we want to get lost in a different world, different life, a fantasy, live through past history. Story telling is a lot like telling a joke. How many times has someone told you and a group of people a joke that you all thought was hilarious but when you try to bring up that same joke down the road to the same group of people, no one laughs? It's about the delivery and not necessarily about the content.

Answer 4

Stories are not about what happens but about how the people (or things) get there.

Lets look at Star Wars. Episode 1-3. We know the ending. We know Anakin becomes Darth Vader. We know Yoda ends up on Degoba. We Know Anakin has two kids; one is sent to Alderaan, one is sent to Tatooine. We know Anakin is not the hero. We know how the story ends. But They still made 3 whole movies getting there.

"Memento" is a great movie of discovery that actually plays backwards. You know the ending at the start and you go though the story trying to find the "start".

Keep in mind that, with fiction, we care more about the story that is told then the ending. We know the ending. No one goes to an Iron Man movie thinking that Iron Man is going to die. We know he will win. We go and still wath for the journey.

On of my favorite series of book is wheel of time. The very first paragraph of the very first book tells you the ending. Yet there are still 13 books covering the trip on how they got there.

I would enjoy a book that has a bunch of people trying to cope with an obvious, yet unfavorable outcome. So long as those people are well developed and not just stand-ins. It's not the end that is important but the journey.

Answer 5

To add my ideas to this set of excellent answers, I believe it'd the worth thinking:

What can be achieved in the end?

Even in death, there can still be a light to cling on to. Even if the heroes die, you could surprise the reader by letting them still achieve something that will go beyond the end of the world.

If you feel your ending is obvious, then it goes without saying that you should try and create twists and turns in it. If you absolutely must kill everyone, then don't just 'kill everyone'. That's boring, and in my opinion, bad storytelling because it would make me think 'is that it?'. Instead, create a catch, or something interesting that will change the fact that everyone has died.

Captain may know he is fighting in an endless struggle, though if he truly has to accept, can he not do anything interesting to make that 'acceptance' slightly less than acceptance?

Answer 6

when I was reading the questions and answers here - a very recent movie comes to mind: Passengers (warning - spoilers below):

A spacecraft traveling to a distant colony planet and transporting thousands of people has a malfunction in its sleep chambers. As a result, two passengers are awakened 90 years early.

In other words - we know they are eventually going to die before reaching their destination - either of old age - or more likely from a variety of other reasons.

This definitely does not ruin the movie. The story is about what happens during the trip. It's about the relationships. It's about how they try to survive in the meantime.

Answer 7

It's not really about the end but it's more about the road to get there. After all, we all know that humans have a lifespan and are going to die anyway but we still want to make our lives worthwhile and impactful. In this case, if the end is really obvious, maybe you can write about the different points of views of each of the groups. However, do not completely destroy hope. For example, there is this anime I watch where there is this superstitious person who brings around lucky items. He says that the lucky items will help him achieve success. They show that he achieves success when he has the lucky item but they don't say he achieved success because of his lucky item but he achieved success because of his hard work. I mean, this is just an example. You must also take note that the quality of work can be more important than the quantity. Namely, you don't give many conflicts but you describe the depth of the conflicts and the severity and why it impacts the protagonists so greatly. That way, even if the ending is obvious, there is joy in reading it.

Answer 8

You know the Titanic sank, right? And in the Bible the MC dies, right?

If a are new writer seeking to be published commercially I seriously doubt your plot will prove popular. Commercial fiction basically amount so 'comfort reading'. "Everybody dies" is unlikely to get you published.

However, I disagree with Mark Baker's assertion: "A novel is an experience, not a puzzle. It's appeal depends on how compelling an experience you create, not on whether we know how it ends." - 'Whodunnits" and "Thrillers" are wholly, or in part, puzzles.

If you have the skills: misdirection and red herrings can be deployed to shake the reader's resolve when initially believing they know the outcome.

There are also times when the directed outcome is not true outcome.