ENDINGS

haven't added a lesson in a while, so, here.

You've read that book up until the second to last chapter. You're doing your best not to get drool all over the pages, you can hardly read the book your hands are trembling so badly, Your eyes are in pain and bloodshot from staring at words for the better part of the day. Now what happens? You get to the end and you stop. Silence. The book thuds loudly against the wall and you storm out of your room to play video games or watch your favorite movie to get the dissapointment out of your mind.

This happens. Most of you know exactly what I'm talking about. You know there won't be a sequel, and even if there was, there's no saving that freefall of a last chapter your mind just consumed. New writers do this, old writers do this, just about everybody has had this happen to them at some point. You've been writing for so long your family can't remember your name because you've been up in your room developing a terrible case of cerebral pulsy. You've jogged your way through the course at a steady pace, but the end is in sight, and man, you make a mad dash to that finish line, and you don't care what little kid you have to shove over or competitor's foot you have to step on, you just want to get there.

Idiotic, overused metaphors aside, this is basically what happens. Your story is like those Myan ruins, or however the hell you spell myans . . . where the building starts off like a big square and ends up a tiny cube. Your so exhausted with this story you just want it to god. damn. end. Instead of fixing what needs to be fixed, you return to your wussy beginning and sagging middle, beefing it up until it's tighter than Jessica Alba's a*s. I'll give you a moment to picture that. . . .

The moral of this story, your ending sucks! (not all of you, just some) And you need to spend some more time on it. Not only that, most often, your beginning is the strongest part of your writing. Then it gradually slows down (not in plot or anything, just quality) until your ending is an emaciated leech that has latched onto an otherwise brilliant work of literature.

I know you probably don't want to, but trust me. WRITE THE ENDING FIRST. This will ensure your mind is fresh and ready to make that ending as thrilling and satisfying as it can be. Not only that, but it will give you an anchor to where you want your story/book to end.

NOTE: keep track of where all of your characters are when the book is over, because this will, in turn, help you keep track of any inconsistencies that are unacceptable in any work headed off to the publishing world.

Keep your pace, remember where your at and where you want to be, make sure everything's consistent in terms of style, and keep in mind you don't want it to be your book that gets chucked across the room.

Comments

Andre Lamy

Posted 11 Years Ago i never actually wrote an ending lol i never finish my stories

Elizabeth Lucantonio

Posted 11 Years Ago I've read so many books that were terrific, until the ending... As you say, they rushed the ending, or, and in my opinion, started putting in plugs for the next novel, instead of letting the novel just end. For mec a recent example is the last book of "50 Shades of Grey." I'm not necessarily saying this was a 'great' book, but it was entertaining, until the end. Such an obvious intent at trying to create a "buzz" or interest in a follow-up or sequel...

Weaver

Posted 13 Years Ago Some writers say that writing the ending first will remove any motivation to write the rest of it, since you now know exactly how it all ends. We wrote the middle of a novel first, once. That worked out quite well. There is no best order to write a novel in. The only 'rule' is not to let yourself get so burned out that you rush the ending just to get it finished. If that starts to happen, either skip ahead or set the writing aside for a while and let your brain relax.

Mike Lamb

Posted 13 Years Ago Very true. I have the same tendency of getting impatient towards the end.