When I was writing my first screenplay (for context, I’m working on my second) I remember I was getting close to the twist. Basically my main character thought things were going good for him, but when he hit what he thought would be his climax the twist would hit and the world as he knew it would change. Instead of it going good for him, he’d realize how bad things in fact were.
I remember being at the point in the story, on the ledge before the fall, and I thought to myself: “I could stop here.” If I stopped writing, the story would be over but he’d be alright. Only what I had written so far would be canon, and the twist would cease to exist. He could skip the horrors I had planned for him.
I felt a little bad, but I kept writing. My desire for a good story was greater than my desire for his good life. I wonder why that is? Maybe the world would be better if we preferred the good life.
The heart wants what it wants.
Maybe I’ll try to give my characters happy endings in the end. My way of paying them restitution.
