Approaching the finish line(s)
On different kinds of endings
Hi friends,
Before I dive in, if you’re in or near Ithaca, NY, please join me on May 9 at 5:30 p.m. for a panel discussion: What to Expect When You’re Expecting (a Debut Novel), with K.E. Semmel (The Book of Losman), Aggeliki Pelikidis (Unlucky Mel), and Roohi Choudhry (Outside Women). This event is free and part of the annual Spring Writes Literary Festival. It will be held at Buffalo Street Books. I hope to see some of you there!
There are several stages of “finishing” a project: finishing a draft, finishing each revision, finishing a version that’s ready to send to an agent or editor or lit mag, and then finishing it one last time for publication.
Right now, I’m working on two projects, both approaching different finish lines. In mid-March I came to the point where I’d taken my newest novel as far as I could based on feedback I’d received on the first 100 pages. It was time to let the full manuscript go to my trusted readers. It’s not that I think it’s done or has no way to improve; it’s that I can no longer see what it needs because I’m too close to it. In truth, I can no longer tell whether I’ve written what I think I’ve written.
It’s an exciting and terrifying moment, letting a full novel go for the first time, offering it (and myself!) up for judgment. Is it any good? Have I been wasting my time? Will anyone care? Sometimes I think the only definition of “writer” is someone who’s willing to let themself fail at writing, feel all the difficult feelings, and then keep doing it anyway. Over and over. It’s a beautiful thing, really, to love something so much.
So now I’m in a place of waiting with this new novel of my heart, waiting to see what questions arise for my readers, how much work I have ahead of me to finish the book—to the point where it’s ready for the business phase of trying to get it out in the world. I feel like the answers are deep inside me, and the feedback, I hope, will unlock them.
While I wait, I’ve also been drafting a new story, and the end feels imminent. The only problem is that I can’t see it yet. So while I’m waiting to embark on a finished-for-now version of my new novel, I’m also meditating on how to end a story that seemed to be pouring out of me for almost twenty thousand words before the well suddenly dried up. Here are a few ideas I’ve come up with.
Ways to End a Story
Run out of things to say.
Fold your story into a paper airplane and send it flying. Let the story continue—and end—wherever it lands.
Read a story that inspires and grips you all the way through, only to find that its ending comes out of nowhere and seems unrelated to everything you’ve just read. Close the magazine and consider how no one in a workshop would ever let you get away with that.
Kill off your main character, suddenly and dramatically.
Turn the lights down and stop the music. Bring the party to a close. Tell all your characters it’s time to go home.
Turn your book into a choose-your-own-adventure story with multiple endings.
Roll a die.
Copy an ending you love from another book.
Swap unfinished stories with another author and write each other’s endings.
Go for a hike. Look for a nest in the trees. There’s sure to be a perfect ending tucked neatly into it. You’ll have to be very gentle to free it from underneath the baby birds.
In truth, I’ll probably do what I always do. Go for a walk. Take a shower. Do the dishes. Go to work. Spend time with my family and friends. Call my representatives in Congress. Read a good book. Watch TV. Live my life and trust in what I’ve written so far, and let the ending come when it comes.
What do you do to hasten the process along? Maybe we can help one another in the comments.
Meanwhile, I wish you whatever ending—or beginning—you need today. And I look forward to next time.
Yours,
Jen