Owing to one of those ridiculous misunderstandings which happen in life, but if you try and write about in fiction will get you laughed out of the park, I spent the weekend… planning on saying goodbyes, and wrapping up my affairs, finishing as many books as possible for my wife’s income, and my grandkids to read and know something of the Grandad they would not remember, once I go to join my dogs.
And then… having taken my darling wife in with me, so we could hear the worst together… I found out I had completely the wrong end of the stick, and that I was called in there because what the expert thought ailed me… definitely wasn’t the problem. Now, we’re still not sure just what it is (so more tests) but the obvious and nasty, it isn’t.
I had been stacking up and pushing hard at writing and the house (which I need finished) all weekend, at cracking pace. I was planning on getting back from my mid-day appointment and getting stuck into my wall-building and then a word-count before a short post here, saying I was stepping down from MGC and most social media, so I could push as hard as possible…
So: having discovered that really, I had my nickers in a twist about a problem that did not exist… I came home and instead of the tasks I had so intended to pursue, had a little lie down somewhere (as Arthur Dent would have said) and actually added no forward progress at all. I am one those driven people who feels guilty about idleness That’s why I enjoy diving… to shoot fish or catch spiny lobster or collect abalone. I can temporarily still my conscience with the rationalization that I am ably gathering food for my family. I am good at these things, and do provide us with a varied diet.)
I hadn’t slept a lot – brain too full and too busy making plans – so I suppose a little sleep was a fair call. But I got up hours later, still flat, emotionally drained, and struggling to put coherent sentences together.
Gradually, with effort, I made myself get back up. I phoned my kids and told them I loved them and plan to visit as soon as I can, and weeded the strawberry patch and actually got a little writing done. I daresay I could drop dead for other reasons tomorrow… but it was a painful reminder to seize the jug… day, and visit and tell those you love that indeed you do.
But how does this tie into a writing blog? Well, it is really about that thing which will cause you to throw the book across the room or never bother read another by author. This was an anticlimax with a good outcome. But… good or bad, failing to deliver — especially after a build-up — is one the worst things you can do to readers. Don’t. Just don’t. Because I am picking up the reins of my life again (without quite the urgency) people have more choices with a book (hopefully anyway). Work them up to an emotional investment and… then either drop it flat or simply fail to resolve, and leave them hanging… sounds great and very literary – and a book and author I will avoid forever more.
Nil Carborundum Illigitimi!
Mad Genius Club 
12 responses to “Anticlimax”
I am very happy to hear that you will be around and kicking life forward with all you have for a while longer!
Glad to hear that you got goodish medical news!
I’m so very glad you got good news! Congratulations, and I’m going to use your example as motivation for me to push ahead with what I want to do.
I too am very glad to hear about your Bad News Not. I hope it all turns out to be some manageable minor nuisance. (I dare not hope for something better than that!)
O frabjous day!
Thundering anticlimax takes real art, and very careful plotting, to pull off. It can have its place. I read one tale where a young would-be hero declared he wanted to hold a certain post, the laws required the elders to appoint someone to that post within a given amount of time after that, and he drilled very hard to be ready for whatever test they gave. They just gave him it because no one else wanted it. And I read another one where tracking down the Evil Overlord after the defeat proved that the tales he was not a coward had turned on the way no one had ever seen him lose — and that was at the end of the tale.
Congrats!
I do fall into writing as a moral exercise after a fashion (mini-deity) — I want my heroes to (struggle to) improve and succeed, just as I want my villains to fail. I think evolutionarily-based social group story-telling is an educational/instructional social activity (e.g., Fairy Tales).
One should (note the prescriptive usage) revel in heroes who know how to behave and are rewarded, and boo the incompetent/evil failures. The fact that we snarky moderns can also revel in the tale of a successful villain (if he’s charming enough) is a mark of the decadence of our secular cultures. But then the fondness we hold for a plucky villain is based on his heroic attributes, not his baseness, so perhaps there is still hope for us.
So, an anticlimactic ending that includes some degree of success for the villain is acceptable — maybe he’ll live-and-learn after all, in a generous sub-creation. I’m less happy with the cynical 18th century authors who see all heroic success as contingent on accident, not virtue.
Glad news wasn’t horrible. Unfortunately the inconclusive results are not great. But hopefully whatever it is, is treatable and benign. Stay strong, and don’t worry about the little lie down. Everyone deserves some time off.
Sounds like great news to me cobber. Glad to hear that you’ll be with us for an unknown but greater than expected period. Now get to writing. JK
Well you scared me for a bit of a second anyway. It took a bit to get to the part about false alarm.
Glad it was Not Bad News!
Here’s hoping it’s minor annoying news when it finally comes.
In the meantime, your body was throwing a lot of resources into flight or flight, so you’ll need a bit of time to recover. I’ve had all too much practice on this with my Calmer Half’s surgeries lately… give yourself a little grace, and accept that even if it’s the most minor thing, you’re going to want to do something to reduce the chaos level in your life.
This, too, will pass. Might pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass.
I’m glad it was good (for values of) news!
Excellent! Now de-stress as much as possible. You can now labor joyfully, instead of frantically, and even take time off to do nothing except recover from the thankfully not needed mind set.