I agree: Endings are FAR harder than beginnings! One thing I've never been able to do (mainly because I haven't tried) is to write toward a prewritten or preconceived ending. That just doesn't sound like much fun to me. But it does increase the difficulty. Oh well, if writing were easy, I wouldn't enjoy it. It would seem like busy work.
I rarely know the end when I start, even if I do a rough outline. For a book, that is, I've never done an outline for a short story. The end normally takes shape bit by bit as I go, until it becomes evident. The 2 stories in this post are outliers.
Sometimes I have a finishing line in my head and the challenge is to get there. Usually in the writing, a lot changes and the story ends up in a different place that needs a different ending.
Absolutely. The writing shakes some things loose that lead in unexpected directions. I love when that happens. It's less frequent, for me, in short stories, but it's a nice surprise when it goes that way.
I'm definitely speaking more on novels here. My stories (infrequent as they are) can often arrive close to fully formed - not to say they don't change while I'm writing them, but I usually know where I'm going when I start. I like to have an end goal for the books too, but once you begin to add new ideas/characters, it will more often than not change the destination.
This is very interesting Martine. I have a particular story that came together by adding an element I hadn't initially thought of. As soon as it was in, I knew...this is it...the little essential sparkle that story needed. Completely turned it around. You've inspired me to go write a post about it!!
"A solid beginning will set the tone for the entire piece and push the narrative forward." Thanks Martine and yes. I've read other artists as saying this (Bukowski and Hemingway to name two) and in starting stories I have experienced it. If your first line or at least paragraph doesn't excite you, you may not have a story.
Love that Jim guy.
Endings are so damn hard.
Great post. Good luck with the subs!
Thanks! I'm sure Jim will appreciate your endorsement :) ...
I agree: Endings are FAR harder than beginnings! One thing I've never been able to do (mainly because I haven't tried) is to write toward a prewritten or preconceived ending. That just doesn't sound like much fun to me. But it does increase the difficulty. Oh well, if writing were easy, I wouldn't enjoy it. It would seem like busy work.
I rarely know the end when I start, even if I do a rough outline. For a book, that is, I've never done an outline for a short story. The end normally takes shape bit by bit as I go, until it becomes evident. The 2 stories in this post are outliers.
Sometimes I have a finishing line in my head and the challenge is to get there. Usually in the writing, a lot changes and the story ends up in a different place that needs a different ending.
Absolutely. The writing shakes some things loose that lead in unexpected directions. I love when that happens. It's less frequent, for me, in short stories, but it's a nice surprise when it goes that way.
I'm definitely speaking more on novels here. My stories (infrequent as they are) can often arrive close to fully formed - not to say they don't change while I'm writing them, but I usually know where I'm going when I start. I like to have an end goal for the books too, but once you begin to add new ideas/characters, it will more often than not change the destination.
Thanks,great advice for those of us stuck in the mire. I home tour story finds a home.
I'll keep you posted!
This is very interesting Martine. I have a particular story that came together by adding an element I hadn't initially thought of. As soon as it was in, I knew...this is it...the little essential sparkle that story needed. Completely turned it around. You've inspired me to go write a post about it!!
Just finished Raymond Carver's "Love" collection, and I gotta say: all things considered, endings are tough for everyone... ;)
If Raymond struggled, what do we have to complain about?
Is that photo a commentary on the notion of flash fiction?
Pretty appropriate, no? From start to finish in one jump!
I struggle with this too. Thanks for sharing.
Oh, we all do... do bee do, do, do as Frank used to sing :)
"A solid beginning will set the tone for the entire piece and push the narrative forward." Thanks Martine and yes. I've read other artists as saying this (Bukowski and Hemingway to name two) and in starting stories I have experienced it. If your first line or at least paragraph doesn't excite you, you may not have a story.
Of course that doesn't mean that the story entry won't be tweaked/sharpened once the draft is done, but it's the feet in the starting blocks thing...