Hey! I would like help with how I should end my story. Thanks! I removed the subplots and sub-characters (and ideas) from the description. This is the central plot with the central characters. The plot summary: There a very popular, hot boy at a high school, and he is dating the most popular girl. The girl, however, is very stuck up and obnoxious, so they break up. Then the popular boy ends up dating the most unpopular girl by accident (she got the wrong impression, and he is a pushover). The boy wants to find a way to dump the girl without hurting her feelings. So he ends up going on many dates with her, and he finds that they get along. However, they also get into manny arguments: the popular girl told the unpopular girl that the boy either was just trying to get back at her or pitied her, and she then yells at the boy about this, which makes him also yell at her for his looks. So they don't talk. It also happens that at the school they go to, there is an annual halloween party where couples go dressed in the same costumes. Friend groups can also do that. So, the popular boy and the popular girl both decide on the costumes, which basically says to the school that they are dating again. The unpopular girl is very depressed over this. So she goes to the party where there is also karaoke and sings "You Belong with Me" by Taylor Swift. Then the boy decides that he wants to be with the unpopular girl after all, and he goes up to her and kisses her in front of everybody. Soooooo...... Is the karaoke scene too cheesy/predictable? How should I change it? Should it end with the karaoke scene, or have an epilogue to show their daily life afterward?
If the characters are more "quirky" than "popular" then a predictable plot can work. But "popular" and "unpopular" as descriptions of characters don't compel me to learn about them. Characters are only interesting when flaws humanize them. Take, for example, Napoleon Dynamite, from the eponymous movie. I can only think of the story you've described in a sort of "anti-hero" style. The MC is portrayed as a jerk throughout the story, trashes everyone around him, then at the end finds common ground with a new girl at school. However, he finds out a few days later that she's his half-sister, that's why they were so much alike.
Yah. Mega stinky French cheese that's been in someone's smelly gym sock for a month. Seriously, I don't think there is much depth to this plot, and it's coming off as one of those bad teen movies where the popular high school girls are always spoily bratty cheerleaders with designer clothes and hot boyfriends, and the geeky girl with glasses spends the whole movie moaning about them, only to finally take off her glasses, let down her hair and turn into one herself, then walz off into the sunset with the highschool hunk. Bleugh. You need to go beyond these stereotypes to make real characters with real emotions. Why does he suddenly just realise he wants the 'unpopular' girl simply because she sings a song? What exactly is that supposed to show him about her or about their relationship?
I like it when the resolution ties in with the largest obstacle, or most climactic conflict. If you like the scene in your head, (karaoke) then work with it, but at least explain why. Perhaps the act of singing karaoke can be used to represent an integral characteristic of the unpopular girl. If you highlight the issues and their resolutions properly, it can seem more endearing and less cheesy. I love the heartwarming stuff. Just do it justice or else your characters end up shallow.
The plot itself is cliche and overused (sorry). But the characters don't have to be. If the "popular" girl is going to be bitchy, find out why she's that way. Maybe her father's in jail and she's desperate for a sense of companionship and control. Write about that. Just because the plot itself is old news doesn't mean the story will suck. Find out who your characters are and then worry about whether you need to change your plot.
It's your story. The ending is a key element, and you should come up with it and commit to it. Writers don't ask others to come up with their stories for them.
this sounds slightly like the movie "she's all that" to me. I agree with Cog, you're the writer. Writing the ending that somebody else came up with could also be sounding "wrong" because if it doesn't come from you how could you write it convincingly?
you know what? stuff whatever anyone else says and just go with it. Its your story, and in that its unique. Every story has been told a million times - so what? make it your own. Only tiniest bit of advice - if she's going to sing karaoke, make sure you have noted before that she can sing and she enjoys it (or gets comfort from it or something) so its not just - suddenly she can sing !!! if you know what i mean? just have fun. And remember its yours and no-one else can take that from you xxxxxx GOOD LUCK
yes, of course I didn't mean to discourage you from writing it, hope you didn't take it that way. I am actually writing a story too that has already been done before, and even successfully by other writers, so I certainly wouldn't be the one discouraging anyone. I just think you need to come up with an ending you find fits the story and your idea about the feeling you want to give the reader with the way it ends. is it going to be a hopeful/happy ending? a bittersweet one? a sad one? a comic one? no one can know that but you.
