I've been working on this story for a few years now and obviously have a sentimental attachment to it *rolls eyes.* Now I've written it pretty solidly all the way to the near end, but am having trouble finishing it off. It's set sort of in three different worlds. The two main characters both died in their world and both woke up in a prison in a totally new world. They are themselves in the bodies of people who had died at the same time that they did. Anyways, the girl dies in the end, and the boy(who she loves like a brother) is torn up blah blah blah. But now I'm not sure where to go from there... He knows that it's possible that she is alive in a different reality...Should he die too and wake up in her world??? I have no idea how to end this please help me!!!
So if he dies and wakes up in her world, there's some kind of resolution right? He has a problem and it gets solved (yay). What's the alternative plotline?
It depends on what is necessary. And why he would die. If he would just randomly die out of the blue, no. It would feel too forced. But if he's the kind of character who would be prepared to commit suicide to be with her...that, in my opinion, would be better. I would be on the edge of my seat as he contemplated it and then went through with it, wondering if it would really work or if he had killed himself for nothing. And then when he woke up with her I would probably scream with happiness.
Depends. Typically you want to look for the general mood you had set with your story and see whichever ending fits the best.
The alternative would be to leave the ending open. He is currently living in a group of mages so maybe he could get a message to her through magic???
So, the thing is this; the people who's lives they woke up in, loved each other and were planning on running away to be together (obviously this failed) So his feelings for Cait are that of an adrenaline bonded friend, whereas the feelings the person before him had were that of strong boyfriend/girlfriend love. So his feelings come in waves, he might do something foolish out of the love that Silas(the one who is dead) had for Nova(the girl who died before Cait).
What sort of emotions do you want the readers to experience when they finish the book? Do you want them to be squeeing and grinning from ear to ear, or do you want them shedding a few tears about the bittersweet direction life takes sometimes? Personally I prefer the first one, which is why I always write a Happily Ever After conclusion. But there's absolutely nothing wrong with the second one either - I know a lot of folks who enjoy a bittersweet or even ambiguous ending.
according to the logic of your world, does his death necessarily means he will wake up in the girl's world? And even if he does, where in that world would she be and how would he find her, esp considering she looks different now, being in a different body. If whether he will necessarily wake up in her world is in question, that itself can make an open ending - you don't know that his death meant any resolution, only that it could. It also opens you up to write a sequel if you so desire, because the next book would logically be how/whether he actually finds her. I'm curious though - if people keep living through other people's dead bodies, do the bodies never decay, and what happens to the dead people's friends and family, who now see this person who still looks like the person they knew but is no longer the same person? Sounds confusing but interesting
For me, reality trumps most other things. So I would say they do not end up together. Relationships that start as adrenaline bonded (we went through this major thing together) rarely last beyond a short time.
In my mind, the body would still be working as per normal because there is still someone living in it. In my book the two characters were told that their fates were entwined, so that's how they'd end up in the same world. When Cait and Farren come back to Nova's family the family knows that they were held in a prison and that's why they believe that they're not totally the same. IDEK what I'm doing anymore
