Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Writing endings

I hate writing endings. I'm not very good at it and I always think they're weak or just plain lame. I always wonder what happens to my characters after that. Joan Wilder (from The Jewel of the Nile) said it best:
Editor: "You write about people that sail off into the sunset."
Joan Wilder: "But what about the next day when the sun comes up?"

Endings are hard and I find my focus drifting the closer I get to one. I suddenly have an idea for another story that I just have to write right now! Or I stall on the ending of the story I writing. Or worse, I go do laundry or scrub the bathtub or wash dishes just to avoid writing the damn ending!

Heck, even now, I'm writing a blog post instead of writing an ending to my latest werewolf tale.

Remarkably, writing a story isn't that hard, but ending it, after spending so much time with your characters, loving them, working through their issues with them, and helping them find the loves of their lives, is difficult. You want to know what happens to them the next day, or what happens to their friends. This is how you end up writing series; but each story must have some sort of ending.

So, I'd best get back to it. Time to bury the body, swear eternal love for each other, and "sail off into the sunset". I just hope it doesn't turn out lame. Thank God for editors. :)

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments are on moderation, so they'll become visible once I've read them. Words, words, words. I love them. Have you a few to lend?

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.