This semester, I submitted a short story that is so “inspired” by the end of of a certain game company startup that it barely qualifies as fiction. The main workshop feedback I got on it was:
- Makes no sense for a tech founder to just give up and walk away like that, with no warning. His lack of concern really doesn’t match the beginning where he’s been such a kind mentor to the protagonist.
- This should end on a high note when she demands and receives her last check. Why is your protagonist still worried about being a waitress? It’s an unreasonable concern at this point in her career.
I can’t remember where I heard this, but fiction has to make sense, whereas real life doesn’t. I mean, there’s no way I would have considered the events of the last two years as plausible fiction. Shit this weird can only happen in real life.