Delayed Reader Realizations & Unanswered Questions

[Margo]

I'd like to get feedback on how everyone feels about a particular reaction a reader had to a story I wrote and how I set up a situation.

I was talking on the telephone to one of my betas about some short story feedback I had received from the other beta, to see if she agreed with a change he had proposed. Near the end of the conversation she started sort of thinking out loud, explaining my story to me. She pointed out that my main character has a choice to make, but she can't be sure how much trouble she's going to get into with several powerful figures for doing something (and the police would absolutely slap the cuffs on her if they found out), but she also knows terrible things will happen if she doesn't do it. People are going to get hurt either way, and she has good reasons for wanting to do this thing and good reasons not to do it. There really is no right answer...

I think I actually heard her slap her forehead. She got it. The character has no good choices. My beta realized this the day after reading the story and in the course of this conversation. I stopped and asked myself if it was good or bad that she had a delayed realization about the core of the story situation. I have read stories or chapters like this, and I've really enjoyed them, but I had my aha moment immediately upon finishing the story/chapter. Yet I kind of like the idea that she had to think about the story situation; I didn't spoonfeed it to her.

Part One of my question: Have any of you written this kind of a story, where the point or the core matter was not obvious until the reader took a step back and tried to take in the events as a whole? Did your readers like it? Have you liked one you read? Do you think it is necessary/preferable to have the aha moment be very pronounced and occur by the time or as soon as the reader has finished the story?

Part Two of my question is this: does it bother you when a short story ends with unanswered questions? Not 'cliffhanger' quality questions, but with the explicit point that the character doesn't know the answers and is acting from a place of extreme uncertainty? Meaning the story isn't so much about consequences or success/failure as it is about the pivotal choice in the story.

Thoughts? Am I explaining that clearly enough?

[polymath]

Margo, you explained the horns of the dilemma quite well.

And that is where your protagonist is, stuck between the rock of condemned if she does and the hard place of condemned if she doesn't. For me that makes for a compelling antagonism. One thing I don't see fully realized in the explanation is the protagonist's self-interested purpose(s). I don't mean self-absorbed or self-serving, per se. I mean what's privately at stake for her if she succeeds, if she fails. That's related to conflict's duality of diametrically opposing forces in terms of stakes and outcomes. Like, life or death, acceptance or rejection, condemnation or salvation, etc. Then how that conflict connects to the central theme, which knowing and realizing would make it easier for me to assess whether the target reader niche is working too hard to understand the action.

There's where my concern would be. Is the action understandable, but the subtext not as accessible as might suit the target niche's comfort zone? If the subtext that's important to understand is too inaccessible, I'd suggest bringing it more forward by further development of the meaning of the horns of the protagonist's dilemma, through showing her conflicted motivations and stakes and decisions.

Unanswered questions are another matter. From my perspective, the real concern would be if all the dramatic complications are wrapped up, then there's a satisfying final outcome. Though not as outworn as some critics might suggest, a death or a marriage frequently are final outcomes in traditional conflict resolution endings. I sense they're not either of the story's endings though.

Charles Frazier's Thirteen Moons ends with unresolved questions, but the final outcome of the main and contributing dramatic complications are pretty well finalized. Same with Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, though there are questions left hanging projecting an afterstory worth contemplating. Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants doesn't have a final outcome and leaves the central dramatic question (also known as suspense question) unanswered. Personally, I get it, but the quantity of effort to interpret those narratives' respective intents and meanings isn't for every reader. Also, E. Annie Proulx's The Shipping News, though it ends with a wedding, also leaves questions unanswered, and yet finalizes most of the dramatic complications.

[Falls Apart]

For question one, I think that it depends on the nature of the content the reader is unsure of. For instance, in And Then There Were None (wonderful book--who says you can't have a cast of detestable characters?), there are a lot of things about the characters that you need to take a step back to understand, such as the nature of the relationship between the two kinda-heroes. It was much more clear (and happy) in the play/film, which, in my opinion, weakened it, whereas in the book, it was something you had to guess at. However, the main plot point--the identity of the killer--is made quite clear by the end of the book, whereas, in the movie (at least, the 1945 version) you're still left wondering about how (s)he (don't want to give it away) pulled it off, why (s)he did it, and why on earth (s)he made so many mistakes, except to give the audience a happier ending. Overall point being, if you need to take a step back to understand a minor subplot, a character's motivations, or another relatively minor point in the story, then that's a great literary device that really draws your readers in (and makes them feel smart when the "get it"). But if, at the end, they're just sitting there wondering what happened and what the point was, then that detracts from the overall story.
For question two, it, again, depends on the nature of the unanswered questions. Would somebody read the story in order to find out the answer to the questions--in which case they'll be sorely disappointed and a bit ticked off--or would these be minor parts of the book? For instance, in the movie To Save a Life, you still don't know if the main character will reconcile with his dad, if he'll get back together with his girlfriend, if his best friend will ever be able to ask out the girl he likes again--or even stop being suicidal--but it doesn't feel dissatisfactory, because you weren't watching it to find this out. However, a romance novel in which you still have no idea whether or not the protagonists even like each other, never mind intend on winding up together, will get on most readers' nerves, even if you do resolve the subplots.
Sorry, kinda rambling there . . . anyways, I guess my point is that it really depends on what this stuff has to do with your overall story. Good luck writing it! :)

[Leila]

To answer part 1 of your question, no I haven't myself, but I think it takes a whole of lot of skill to actually write this kind of story so good for you that you got that kind of reaction. In this cynical day and age of everyone seeing everything coming from every angle faster than you can write it, it's quite a feat! I think the qualifier in there, though, is that if the aha moment isn't obvious at least by the end of the book, it can (not always, and Polymath cited some great examples to the contrary) leave the reader feeling a bit unsatisfied at the end of the story.

However, there's a difference between not getting the point/outcome/decision etc (or the aha moment) v's getting the underlying subtext, such as no choice was a good choice etc. So, without knowing more about what you've written, I'm just wondering if that is what your beta was reacting to, not the aha moment itself as such? I've no idea about your readers, I'm just tossing ideas into the mix.

To answer the next bit of part 1 of your question - do I think it's necessary to have the aha moment pronounced? I'm afraid I might be a bit old fashioned here, and can only speak for myself of course, but I do, generally, think it's necessary. I'm an eclectic reader, and there's really only limited genres I can't get into, but I confess I like to get the aha moment and feel the relief (or sadness, or...) that comes with journeying with the characters throughout the story. In other words, yes I do like there to be a resolution of sorts.

That leads into answering part 2 of your question. I think there can always be unanswered questions, but, as I said above, I think there needs to be an overall resolution of sorts to the main issues expounded in the plot, and the unanswered questions are more secondary in nature. Can you provide a bit more information? For example, you said the MC acts from a place of extreme uncertainty in relation to the pivotal choice. Did the MC actually make the decision in the end, take a course of action, make an actual choice? Or was it left at the point of about to make the choice? It kind of sounds like the MC made a choice but wasn't convinced about whether or not it was the right course of action to take.

I'd like to ask another question, if I may. Because of the point you finished the story, does it suggest that perhaps it might need to be taken a bit further? Are there too many unanswered questions that would confuse a reader? Is there enough information provided, does the reader get into the MC's head enough to understand how and why they do the things they do to make the decision so hard? (It sounds like they do, because your beta readers had a good reaction in that regard but just asking) If they have enough information, and can feel the character's uncertainty and empathise with them, perhaps the unanswered questions simply make for great conversation starters about the story after reading it.

I'm not sure if any of this is terribly helpful, just my two cents worth.

[Margo]

Thanks to everyone for impressions and advice.

Is the action understandable, but the subtext not as accessible as might suit the target niche's comfort zone? If the subtext that's important to understand is too inaccessible, I'd suggest bringing it more forward by further development of the meaning of the horns of the protagonist's dilemma, through showing her conflicted motivations and stakes and decisions.

Yes, yes, I think you have it here. My initial beta read suggested I needed to make my main character's internal conflict a litle clearer, and in doing so I strengthened the emphasis that she has good reasons to go either way on her decision. I think I might need to inch it forward just a bit more. I've been told by agents before that I need to trust my audience more, and I might have expected them to come up with too much on their own this time. Still looking for that balance. I shall probably go a little further into the emotional context of her decision and use that as an opportunity to clarifiy the stakes.

Unanswered questions are another matter. From my perspective, the real concern would be if all the dramatic complications are wrapped up, then there's a satisfying final outcome. Though not as outworn as some critics might suggest, a death or a marriage frequently are final outcomes in traditional conflict resolution endings. I sense they're not either of the story's endings though.

This is an interesting situation (for me at least) in that it might appear as though the story is about the main character's efforts to get back something that has been stolen from her. There's the tried and true short story method of having a problem, followed by three attempts to solve it, followed by a decision or sacrifice, followed by the final outcome. In this case, the story actually only conveys the events of the last attempt, the decision, and the character acting on that decision. The story ends with the character getting ready for the final confrontation and outcome. The unanswered questions are mostly about whether she will be punished for her decision, either by the law or by others, and whether her attempt to retrieve the stolen object will succeed now that this obstacle has been dealt with (for good or ill).

Again, many thanks for the thought-provoking responses.

[polymath]

You're welcome, Margo.

An open-ended ending then with no finalized outcome and unanswered questions left artfully hanging. Like "Hills Like White Elephants" main dramatic complication outcome isn't finalized, not the one that's on the surface, nor the main dramatic question answered. And no irrevocable, unequivocal transformation. However, readers may choose for themselves an outcome from the projected afterstory. Hemingway's mainstay. Projecting afterstory is an art unto itself that open-ended endings require.

The short story is a suspended moment in time, a pregnant pause during a railway journey to rethink and reaffirm a major decision is the right one for Jig and the man. The decision is finalized, more or less, again, only at that moment in time. There's still a chance the irrevocable decision might be reversed before it's too late. No major transformation, no final outcome, no future certainty. Does Jig get the operation or not?

"Hills Like White Elephants," symbolism of the first order, white elephant meaning a burdensome gift requiring laborious, costly, conscientious care. Yet Jig drinks two beers and a glass of anise and wants to try absinthe. Yet the man moves their luggage to the other side of the station from where it was placed, ostensibly from the side they arrived on for a layover interruption of their journey. Though each says they don't care one way or another, Jig self-interestedly contemplating not having the operation, the man self-interestedly favoring the operation, they can't decide finally. They are at a crossroads, figuratively and literally. Two train tracks meet at the station. It's a four-way road.

Readers are left to contemplate and decide for themselves the outcome or accept what they assume the outcome will be. Meanwhile, a subtext central meaning is, major decisions are hard to make. Burdened if you choose one way, burdened if you choose another way, burdened if you choose to make no decision.

Though mere speculation, Margo, I suspect from what's been given about your short story that the protagonist's self-interests aren't as fully developed as her self-sacrificing nobility. A wholesome protagonist is great for middle grade and early young adult genres. A more literary work with an open-ended ending targetting a maturer readership means a truer-to-life protagonist conflicted by self-interest and self-sacrifice. Bringing her self-interests more forward seems indicated.

[Margo]

Though mere speculation, Margo, I suspect from what's been given about your short story that the protagonist's self-interests aren't as fully developed as her self-sacrificing nobility. A wholesome protagonist is great for middle grade and early young adult genres. A more literary work with an open-ended ending targetting a maturer readership means a truer-to-life protagonist conflicted by self-interest and self-sacrifice. Bringing her self-interests more forward seems indicated.

LOL. I can see where you'd think that from the description I've provided. Her motives are primarily ego-driven, actually, ratcheted up with some bitter family history. The stakes for her go to the core of how she ended up who she is and to her ability to avoid an issue that has been with her for decades. I think even she would recognize that she's acting out of a desperate need to avoid disapproval and rejection, though she is naturally self-sacrificing toward that aim and would focus on that.

I'm doing the very noir flavor of urban fantasy, with everything in shades of gray and supposedly simple situations devolving into a nightmare of complications and (my current favorite phrase) moral ambiguity. So wholesome...yeah, one of the other characters might qualify as wholesome, but not the protag and definitely not in this story.

However, having said that, I think the story could still benefit from working the selfish angle harder, especially since her ultimate choice does have a strong element of self-sacrifice.

[polymath]

Moral ambiguity is certainly in play in "Hills Like White Elephants." Noir urban fantasy is a good place for it too. Mickey Spillane's signature and seminal Mike Hammer is morally ambiguous. Ambiguity of the moral kind flies for older young adult ages and up, where developing alternative outlooks not of the self illustrate black and white answers fall short of realizing a full understanding of life's trials. I'm reminded of computer games like solitaire which don't allow any "cheats," allowing only black and white rules. Not to say I cheat at solitaire; is it really cheating?

So noir, hardboiled cyncism, bleak settings, and moral ambiguity in urbana? A revelation type ending rather than a conflict resolution ending? Conflict resolution meaning recovering the stolen object. The decision reached as the outcome then a product of a revelation, say as a consequence of an anagnorisis (profound recognition) and/or peripetia (profound, abrupt reversal)?

Then a simplistic, basic outline or template working backward.

Outcome: Final, unequivocal and/or irrevocable decision reached. Denouement.
Final crisis: Revelation of a final impetus compelling the final decision.
Falling action: Furthering an ambiguous decision favoring an opposite of the final decision.
Tragic crisis: Discovery and reversal setting up the ambiguous decision opposite of the final decision.
Climax: All information needed to address the complication is known, efforts greatest to address the complication, greatest opposition of purpose and complication forces, and outcome most in doubt. Therefore, the ambiguous decision arrived at favors the final decision.
Full-realization crisis: Arrival at an ambiguous decision favoring the final decision.
Rising action: Efforts to address the main dramatic complication, to come to a decision.
Inciting crisis: Intitiates the decision-making process, compelling efforts to address the main dramatic complication.
Exposition or setup: Introductions, especially introducing the main dramatic complication, a decision pending.

Note how the back and forth (major discoveries and reversals) decision-making occurs at the four crisis stages. And the five acts further the decisions arrived at due to the crises. Of course, they're not so clear cut as to be definitive cookie cutter parts. They encompass adjacent parts.