Endings

[maderr]

I 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.

Comments

[avalon13.livejournal.com]

Even if they ARE bodice rippers, they're always what I'm looking for. Light and easy, and altogether great fun. With easily adored characters and Loads of Plot. Rly. I'm not joking. You're plots are a kagillion times better than some of the others I've seen out there, poorly written, poorly planned out, and reads like the worst soap opera in the history of he world. I sort of hate those. They're the ones that add the jealous ex who cheated and the where the uke had a hard life that was full of misery and woe and had to take care of himself. Of course we can't forget that all too important plot twister; rape. Heaven forbid a popular story which doesn't have rape in it.

[maderr.livejournal.com]

Heh. A woman after my own heart. If you weren't taken, I'd totally be willing to marry you ^_~ I'll settle for mournful looks and angsty sighs.

I swear to god, if I see one more story with rape as plot device/speedy way to develop character, I will become a serial killer. See how long it takes the cops to figure out *that* common thread.

[avalon13.livejournal.com]

You still can. Monogamy being for losers and all that. <3

LET'S NOT FORGET THE USE OF RAPE AS HAWT HOMOEROTICA. THAT JUST FILLS ME WITH BURNING RAGE.

Okay people, one more time.

Rape=non con
rape=Not Okay
non con=Not Okay

NON CON IS RAPE OH MY GOD GET IT RIGHT, PPL.

[moonkitsune.livejournal.com]

I'm more of the later with endings, where I try and figure out where it's leading me when I write, but I've been told from others that I should have one set in mine beforehand. I've written some great stories that start out grand and wind up flushing down the drain at the end. *Ashamed* I'm now forced to have a ending in mind so I can work the story with all it's detail and all the necessary work that has to be placed so that all the game pieces are set when the ending rolls around. I'm also more strategic now that I have to make endless skeletons of chapters to make sure what is needed is placed in, in order, leading to a climax, before the ending wrap up. I'll state it. Endings are my poison at times, but I'm working against that evil.

By and By, at least you said you weren't perfect yourself.

I don't like rape as something seen as necessary in a story. It just doesn't seem like a healthy way to base a relationship on. I'm more into conflicting emotions, talking, and then getting everything out in the open that leads to 'so...do you really want to try this?' moment. What relationships go from being raped to thinking that the person who did it is the best material for a long term relationship. Rape damages people! Victims hide in their houses and wince from human contact. However, I'm all for play rape. I'm good with the kinky scenes. X3

[maderr.livejournal.com]

Oh, gods, I'm far from perfect. It's just that my betas scream at me, so I typically fix it before anyone else sees it. Kitty esp. is good for saying 'you need to add x, I think' Pacing is my problem. I get so fed up with stories not being as short as I wanted them to be, I often try to force them to be short, and in the end only cause myself more work. ^^;

[moonkitsune.livejournal.com]

I become too long winded. I'm going to need a beta that's going to have to tell me when to shorten a story and what I can get rid of without effecting the story. I write too much because I'm a detail maniac. *Loves detail* It's a problem for me. That and along with writing too many thoughts the character is having where I should just leave it up for the reader to pick up and 'feel' through the reading and actions. I love writing what they are thinking, conflicting feelings and how even a simple sentence can confuse or destroy a person. I should be beaten by a ruler-waving nun for that.

[maderr.livejournal.com]

*Laugh* So you are of the Stephen King and Charles Dickens school of writing ^_^ I'm the exact opposite. B/t us, we could write a book that is just right *snicker*

[alice_montrose]

I have a real problem with endings, in the sense that I prefer open ones, and no matter what I write or how good they are, they still seem pathetic to me. (The same stands true for my descriptions, summaries, and titles.)

However, I have spent almost 3 years now editing what amounts to my one epic story, and it's no easy work. I always find something to improve, change, add or get rid of. And I haven't dared trust it to the hands of my beta readers just yet. My bad, I guess. ^^;;;

[maderr.livejournal.com]

Not a bad. Sounds like you're more thorough than I. I rarely fuss much over something once I consider it done. The only stories I've tackled for a rewrite are the ones i knew were bad to begin with. I think I'm just too too impatient to fuss much with stuff once i think it's done.

[mechante-fille.livejournal.com]

What are vacations for, if not to write out essays about our favorite pet peeves. ^___^

Now I really want to know the book that got tossed. The story sounds familiar, so I may have already known, and forgotten, but my curiosity is piqued, or possible re-piqued.

And *nod, nod* to the deadlines aren't everything. While I don't believe that every chore in life that is worth doing is worth doing well, certainly things that people will be paying you for, are.

I went to a luncheon seminar last week given by a music prof. who was talking about writing a piece of music he was commissioned to do for a concert. Because of this and that, he wasn't able to complete it in time for the choir to learn the whole thing. They offerred to do only the first movement or two of three, but he withdrew it entirely, and gave up the pay, rather than have them do a concert without the end of the piece. He told us this with the 'duh' attitude I thought it deserved. Also, it took a couple more years, during which he rewrote almost the whole thing, and someone else paid him to use it. So there. It was worth doing it well, after all.

[sunandshadow.livejournal.com]

I would love to know the ending of a story before I sat down to start writing, that would make it sooo much easier! O.O *jealous* I'd ask how you think up your endings but, it seems like always a pointless question to ask writers where they get their ideas.

[spurious-sanity.livejournal.com]

imo, such high standards show that you're professional, in your way of thinking. So if you do things with a professional mindset, it's only natural to expect the same from those who're supposed to be the real professionals, the ones with agents and editors and contracts with publishers, who get quite a bit of money for their stuff.

personally, I consider myself a pro on singing, and I won't give any singer my time if I don't feel their level of professionalism isn't at least on par with mine. to me, there's a difference between "singing" and "performing". anyone can do the first. the second takes lots of work and deep thought.

I honestly believe the same goes for all things, and I firmly support your rant. *nods*

[cornporngirl.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with you here, and the funny thing is I just finished a fic that did exactly that and it really annoyed me because it seemed like the author lost steam at the peak of the story and instead of writing out the last 10 or so chapters they just stopped and did the rest as a wrap up chapter/epilogue that tells you what would have happened. It was like stopping midway through a book and reading a synopsis of the second half instead of the actual story.

Seriously, I'd rather wait years for an update to a good fic than have a half-assed ending, and I'm the same way about my own writing. It does mean I just about never post because I refuse to post something if I don't have it completed already, but it means when I do post things I feel much more satisfied about the completed piece.