Satisfaction

Today I want to raise (but perhaps not truly answer) the question of what makes a satisfying story. I think it's a question we will be discussing for some time. I want to start with the basic notion of considering what promises have been made to the reader or audience and paying attention to whether the promises have been kept.

I remember back when the second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was airing on TV for the first time. At the time, I predicted an upcoming surprise plot point. (I'm going to try to do this without spoilers, if I can.) There was a lot of talk early in the season about how cruel and evil the new villain was. There was also a part of the ongoing background soap opera that was starting to repeat itself. So there were two things the show needed to do -- (1) show the villian doing something beyond the typical attacking of nameless guest stars and (2) shake up the soap opera.

Looking at it that way, using the villian to mess with the soap opera seems obvious. But when it happened, it took most of my viewing friends by surprise. I only caught it because I asked a writer's question -- What does this story need to be satisfying? The villian needs to hurt us, I thought, what will actually hurt?

Another way to look at it (and this is what I often do) is to ask why the story isn't satisfying. Is the villian all talk and no action? Unsatisfactory. Are the character relationships going around in circles? Unsatisfactory. Seeing the problem often suggests the necessary fix.

And if it doesn't? Well, that leaves us something to discuss for later.