The tenth and final rule is "For God's Sake, Have a Happy Ending"
Now at the time of this writing, there is an ongoing global mental health crisis. Much of this is the result of depression (which even I will admit I am no stranger to). Much of the root of this depression stems from a common belief that "You suffer needlessly in life then die and it's all for nothing". That's not only wrong, it's not a healthy way to live
People need to know that their lives are not meaningless; that good can come from their struggles, that they can overcome problems, and even that they can return better than they were before.
Why does Ursula get defeated and Ariel marries Eric in the end? Why does Balto make it back home and saves Rosy in time? Why Does Marty McFly make it back to 1985 but to a life that is better than when he left? Because everyone, as true for adults as to children, needs to know that those things are possible and happen in life. If all someone ever saw were shows like Iron Blooded Orphans or Pay it Forward, of course they'd visit the bar or therapist office more than the grocery store.
The only time a tragic ending ever works is in cautionary tales where you don't really care about the characters. However, This trope has long been discredited and rendered obsolete. You'd still be better showing a likeable character people can relate to overcoming a challenge, even if it's a challenge to change their ways. This doesn't mean that a Happy ending works for every story, but those are usually stories you shouldn't tell anyways
Even if your story is a mild story with minimal conflict, this rule applies. Married couples still need to work it out before going to bed, children still need to make it home in time for supper, people still need to have a happy birthday or a merry Christmas anyways. Leave no loose end untied even if it's your story is mostly happy anyways.
Here is an Example of a little Mini Story I did a while back as a test of this principle. The Pictures are presented in order of the sequences of the story
The last thing I will leave you with in this article is to also never confuse "realism" with "cynicism". Blind cynicism, like blind optimism, is a delusional ways of thinking based on an oversimplified view of the world. Not everything that happens in real life is bad. You can probably even point to moments in your own life where you were spared something bad, or something went better than you expected, or something just went really great; that in itself should be a happy ending for you.
In the next article, I will be wrapping things up
I 💜 happy endings