I'm having a terrible time on my ending. Basically it's this: two or three guys get themselves in "inner earth" - an alternate world where dinasaurs roam and all sorts of other bad things. Since they are from the surface, from this world, like you and I know it. I would think all they would want to do is get back "home" - in other words get out. Sooooo, I figured it would end with them getting back out and going home. How else could it end? Maybe getting back "home" is ok of an ending?
Oooomm - probably better avoid duplicating this one! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_Center_of_the_Earth
I haven't read that. I hear you though. I've been wanting to do some underground adventure story for a while now. Seth Godin says, of course it's been done before but not by you before.
A lot of the inner earth novels end with the character's leaving. At the Earth's core, Journey to the center of the earth. But some of these novels had scientist characters there was no point in there staying because they wanted to prove to their fellow scientists what they'd seen and experienced. If your character isn't particularly interested in proving anything he could like the locals and stay. here's a wicki page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subterranean_fiction
I wanted a group of three. A conspiracy theorist, very paranoid and borderline on "whacky nutjob" Another guy, a friend of the above. A blogger, they've been friends since high school. and one more,.. I'm thinking a pilot, that the blogger knows. How they all come together, not sure as of right this very minute.
Not sure what you meant in post 5 so maybe my thought is not needed. However here it is: why not have your group escape by entering another "inner earth" from within the first "inner earth". A whole new set of possibilities and problems. Of course you can continue this paradigm again and again, leading to anywhere, even outside, like a Klein bottle.
I think first you Need to sort out your story goal. If it is that your 3 guys find their way out of "inner earth" or if it is solely about the expedition then your ending would only be plausible one. Otherwise for them to stay would have only two reasons: 1. They find that life in inner earth is (in some way) superior to life on "outer earth", may it be that they find love there or the conditions down there are incredibly awesome 2. They are forced to stay there ("stranded") for whatever reasons/die down there, in which case your story would have a tragic ending. I believe however that it would be best of You found a different story goal, then it wouldn't matter whether they are on earth or inner earth
The idea of another inner earth is pretty interesting. Perhaps an outer earth beyond ours. A chain of worlds inside each other like nesting dolls. Based on the characters, maybe the blogger returns home and turns his experience into a best-selling novel. The pilot stays behind, wanting to explore this new world. The nutjob gets eaten, done in by his own paranoia (thus proving himself right, in a way)
To add to this response... How do they find this place? And by that I mean, is this an accidental find or a purposeful one. If it's accidental (Land of the Lost) then clearly initial drives are going to be to find a way out no matter how oooo and aaahh the place may be to them. No one planned on this so there's no premeditation. Someone may decide to stay, depending on what's going on down there, but in an accidental situation it would be safe to assume that no one was thinking "God, I wish I could find a little pocket universe to get away from {fill in whatever is going on aboveground that they don't like}." If it's a planned find then you may well have someone already thinking in that direction. Does the end result need to be the same for all of them?
They could die. Or some of them could die. They could find a way to survive in that underground world to demonstrate human resilience. Or better yet, it can go both ways. Some return to the real world while others stay in the underground. You could even have a breach and all the underground comes to the surface! Oh no! Chaos! And we aren't prepared for this! ..just a suggestion lol
I haven't read many on this list. I just found it a little while ago when someone mentioned hollow earth stories ( which made me think of Journey to the Center of the Earth ) but I would love to check out Jeff Long's The Descent - Liked the movie - hated the ending. Didn't even know it was a novel. I also like Pynchon so I might check out his book - his science though, always goes over my head. I did like At the Earth's Core and the Oz books.