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maderrI cannot count the number of stories I've read (print, ebook, online) that totally bombed at the end.
I would hazard to say it's one of the hardest parts of the story to write. Certainly I suffer from no small amount of paranoia. Everything needs to be wrapped up, each relevant character attended, and if it's the sort of story where you plan someday to return to the setting, then that too must be taken into consideration.
Now, some people know the ending ahead of time. Others have no clue until they get there. Still others figure it out in the course of writing. I most often am either the first or the last; very rarely do I not know the ending, at least in some small measure, before reaching it. Prisoner's ending I always knew. All of Lost Gods, I knew the endings before I began. My fairytales are half and half. Kidnapped I figured out somewhere in the middle.
The sense I get from many poor endings is simply that the writer got impatient/fed up/was ready to be finished with the damn thing already. I am compelled to mention that I most often see this from what has become my most frequent punching bag - Torq. I just finished a serial today - and I didn't expect it to end. To my mind, it had a good two chapters at least left in. When last we left the chars, they were just about to face the villians, as it were. Now the last chapter comes along, it's after shit has gone down, we missed the showdown and now just get the happily ever after sex.
I see this a lot - even in print books, I often feel cheated by the ending. To my mind, if you're that damned impatient with a story, just walk away from it. Take a deep breath, find something else to do, come back to it when your patience is restored. I know this works, becaue I have to do it all the bloody time. I get antsy, impatient, aggravated, and if I don't walk away the story suffers for it. I've had betas and readers notice when things seemed rushed. I've had to rewrite pages and pages.
Deadlines and crap like that are a poor excuse. No matter what the world says, deadlines can be shifted and moved. Nothing is truly set in stone. It seems to me if you're getting paid a fair bit of money for your stories, you could have a little bit more patience to make the story a good one. If you're having issues, speak with a trusted beta. Here I feel I must point out that a good beta is one who tells you what is wrong. I whimper very much when I get stuff back from my betas, because they're not shy about telling me what's wrong - and just how wrong it is. I once sent a story to Sammikins that was about twenty pages in length. When she sent it back, the fucker was twenty five pages. There was much headdesking.
That's a good beta.
Kitty has one of my old notebooks, I sent it to her for amusement purposes. She was boggling last night about how much certain stories changed from my initial notes to the final product. Which is the nature of the beast. Stories change -- in fact, they should change. It's called refinement, getting more comfortable with the new sandbox. What worked before you knew your world won't once you're familiar. But the point is that things change, that they can change. If something is wrong with a story, it can be fixed.
So it seems to me writers should be more willing to change and fix shit. If the ending is lacking, fucking flesh it out. Add a chapter to fix the flow. Because, I'm sorry, the stories I read most are the ones that are good start to finish. I once read a story I loved and adored - right up to the sloppy ending. I was so goddamn mad I threw the book across the room. I've refused to have anything to do with that author since, I don't care how often people pimp her.
I think I've wandered from my point, which is this: If you fuck up the end, you've fucked up the entire story. Learn a little patience, find a good beta, be willing to make changes, and make the end worth the trip the readers took.
(heh, this is what peeps get for letting me take vacation time. that'll learn ya.)
Ah, yes. Please to be noting I'm not saying I'm perfect. I never want anyone to make the assumption that's what I think of myself when I bitch. I'm certain some of my stories are less than grand, but it wasn't for lack of trying. I try to hold myself to high standards, and I tend to judge my peers, or betters, to those same standards. I may only write bodice rippers, but that's no excuse for laziness.
I would hazard to say it's one of the hardest parts of the story to write. Certainly I suffer from no small amount of paranoia. Everything needs to be wrapped up, each relevant character attended, and if it's the sort of story where you plan someday to return to the setting, then that too must be taken into consideration.
Now, some people know the ending ahead of time. Others have no clue until they get there. Still others figure it out in the course of writing. I most often am either the first or the last; very rarely do I not know the ending, at least in some small measure, before reaching it. Prisoner's ending I always knew. All of Lost Gods, I knew the endings before I began. My fairytales are half and half. Kidnapped I figured out somewhere in the middle.
The sense I get from many poor endings is simply that the writer got impatient/fed up/was ready to be finished with the damn thing already. I am compelled to mention that I most often see this from what has become my most frequent punching bag - Torq. I just finished a serial today - and I didn't expect it to end. To my mind, it had a good two chapters at least left in. When last we left the chars, they were just about to face the villians, as it were. Now the last chapter comes along, it's after shit has gone down, we missed the showdown and now just get the happily ever after sex.
I see this a lot - even in print books, I often feel cheated by the ending. To my mind, if you're that damned impatient with a story, just walk away from it. Take a deep breath, find something else to do, come back to it when your patience is restored. I know this works, becaue I have to do it all the bloody time. I get antsy, impatient, aggravated, and if I don't walk away the story suffers for it. I've had betas and readers notice when things seemed rushed. I've had to rewrite pages and pages.
Deadlines and crap like that are a poor excuse. No matter what the world says, deadlines can be shifted and moved. Nothing is truly set in stone. It seems to me if you're getting paid a fair bit of money for your stories, you could have a little bit more patience to make the story a good one. If you're having issues, speak with a trusted beta. Here I feel I must point out that a good beta is one who tells you what is wrong. I whimper very much when I get stuff back from my betas, because they're not shy about telling me what's wrong - and just how wrong it is. I once sent a story to Sammikins that was about twenty pages in length. When she sent it back, the fucker was twenty five pages. There was much headdesking.
That's a good beta.
Kitty has one of my old notebooks, I sent it to her for amusement purposes. She was boggling last night about how much certain stories changed from my initial notes to the final product. Which is the nature of the beast. Stories change -- in fact, they should change. It's called refinement, getting more comfortable with the new sandbox. What worked before you knew your world won't once you're familiar. But the point is that things change, that they can change. If something is wrong with a story, it can be fixed.
So it seems to me writers should be more willing to change and fix shit. If the ending is lacking, fucking flesh it out. Add a chapter to fix the flow. Because, I'm sorry, the stories I read most are the ones that are good start to finish. I once read a story I loved and adored - right up to the sloppy ending. I was so goddamn mad I threw the book across the room. I've refused to have anything to do with that author since, I don't care how often people pimp her.
I think I've wandered from my point, which is this: If you fuck up the end, you've fucked up the entire story. Learn a little patience, find a good beta, be willing to make changes, and make the end worth the trip the readers took.
(heh, this is what peeps get for letting me take vacation time. that'll learn ya.)
Ah, yes. Please to be noting I'm not saying I'm perfect. I never want anyone to make the assumption that's what I think of myself when I bitch. I'm certain some of my stories are less than grand, but it wasn't for lack of trying. I try to hold myself to high standards, and I tend to judge my peers, or betters, to those same standards. I may only write bodice rippers, but that's no excuse for laziness.
