{"id":1092,"date":"2019-09-25T09:52:23","date_gmt":"2019-09-25T13:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/?p=1092"},"modified":"2019-09-25T09:52:23","modified_gmt":"2019-09-25T13:52:23","slug":"the-end-of-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/25\/the-end-of-everything\/","title":{"rendered":"The End of Everything"},"content":{"rendered":"

First off, a bookseller who\u2019s a friend just sent me this link, which I believe most of you are too old for, but you may know kids who qualify and would do a bang-up job on:
\nhttps:\/\/www.penguinrandomhouse.ca\/tundra-true-story-contest?ref=PRH997D100A32&utm_source=Tundra_Books&utm_medium=Advertising&utm_content=Email&utm_term=&utm_campaign=Based_on_a_True_Story_Contest_Tundra_Books_-_PW<\/a><\/p>\n

On May 23, 2019, Writing Ballerina wrote, I\u2019m almost done with the first draft of my story!! This is really exciting, but it\u2019s going kinda slow because I don\u2019t know how to end it. Eventually, I\u2019ll run out of plot points and not know what to do so I\u2019ll abruptly stop and leave it for days trying to come up with how to resolve it in a smooth transition.<\/em>
\nDoes anyone have any tips on how to transition out?<\/em><\/p>\n

Three of you weighed in.<\/p>\n

Melissa Mead: Congratulations!<\/em><\/p>\n

Transition, or ending? Transition implies that you\u2019re going on to something else.<\/em><\/p>\n

Some of the most effective endings tie back to the beginning somehow. Ex, Lord of the Rings takes us back to the Shire. Camelot ends with King Arthur giving hope to a young boy as idealistic as he once was, even though up to that point, his own hope had been fading, and restoring some of his own hope in the process.<\/em><\/p>\n

Christie V Powell: Have you looked at plot structure? Studying the \u201cbeats\u201d that make up a story might help you. I like K. M. Weiland\u2019s (her blog is called Helping Writers Become Authors), or you can see if your library has the book Save the Cat or the book by Lisa Cron (Story Genius? Is that the title?). All three have a similar system for breaking a story down into parts, including the ending.<\/em><\/p>\n

Writing Ballerina: Okay, so my brain was dead when I asked this question and I worded it terribly so here we go again.<\/em><\/p>\n

How do you end something satisfactorily? I want the reader to turn the last page, thump the book closed, sigh, and say, \u201cThat was a good book. I loved the ending.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I want to do this right, so I\u2019m not going to rush the ending like I\u2019ve done so many times, but it\u2019s not as easy as it seems. I\u2019ve basically run out of plot points now, but it seems too abrupt to end here. Plus, one of the characters is really not pleased with a new outcome, even though it solved one of his biggest problems, so I need to fix that somehow so everyone\u2019s happy when I end it.<\/em><\/p>\n

What I meant by \u201ctransition\u201d is a smooth ending with pacing that makes sense. Not just like \u201coh look no more plot points the end bye all thanks for reading.\u201d I don\u2019t want it to be like I slammed a wall in front of the characters with THE END spray-painted on it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Katie W.: I can\u2019t help, but I have EXACTLY the same problem. The only advice I can give is: give it AN ending, then let it sit until you find the right one. And, lest you think I\u2019m oversimplifying here, it took me about nine months to find the right final line for one of my stories. (And that was after I spent three months cutting it from seventeen pages to ten.) Sometimes I find the right ending immediately, other times, like I said, it takes a while.<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the first things I was told when I started my long apprenticeship to become a kids\u2019 book writer was: Get out quick once my story\u2019s main problem is resolved, because the reader will become bored as soon as there\u2019s nothing left to worry about. I keep that advice in mind even when I write epilogues, as I often do. Readers sometimes ask me about the future of this character or that, and generally I don\u2019t know the answer. After I type The End, they\u2019re on their own.<\/p>\n

So I\u2019m not opposed to an abrupt ending, as long as the main conflict feels complete\u2013<\/p>\n

–which suggests what may (or may not) be Writing Ballerina\u2019s difficulty. Possibly the conflicts in her story\u2013or in ours\u2013are too even, and the reader doesn\u2019t know which one to care most about.<\/p>\n

If so, when we revise, we can focus on that. We can make some of the other conflicts contingent on the main one\u2013when it\u2019s resolved, the others will become more manageable. Or we can resolve the lesser issues earlier in our story. We can increase the other characters\u2019 emotional investment in our MC. We can expand and intensify our MC\u2019s thoughts, feelings, and voice in our narrative, to make our readers care about her far more than about the others. When she\u2019s settled, they\u2019ll be satisfied. Then, if we\u2019re me, we can write an epilogue to mop up the loose ends. An example of this approach is my beloved Pride and Prejudice. In the last chapter, Austen delivers the fate of all the minor characters, which is nice, but I don\u2019t really care. I\u2019m ecstatic that Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy are together at last. Sorry, Jane and Bingley, it doesn\u2019t matter to me if you have an ugly divorce in a year. Sorry, Jane Austen!<\/p>\n

But this may not be the problem. If not, one approach is Melissa Mead\u2019s suggestion of a circular story shape in which the location of the beginning and the end are the same. I find this shape cozy and comforting, if the ending is happy. If the ending is tragic, a circular story can punch up the bleakness, another desirable result. A long time ago in the life of the blog, I wrote a post on circular stories. If you\u2019re interested, you can look it up.<\/p>\n

Along the same lines, if we focus on what our MC wants, we\u2019ll achieve a satisfying ending when she gets it for a happy ending, or when she irrevocably fails to get it, for a sad one. Our MC and our readers don\u2019t even have to know what the MC wants; only we have to know, and the reader will be satisfied. In my first historical novel, Dave at Night<\/em>, Dave doesn\u2019t know that he wants safety and a home most, and I don\u2019t think the reader does, either. He believes he wants something returned to him, but that\u2019s just a side issue. When I make him safe and contented in his sub-optimal-but-adequate home, he and the reader are happy.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a pantser, so I don\u2019t use a beat system, but I have nothing against it. I\u2019d recommend following Christie V Powell\u2019s suggestions to see if they work for you.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m thinking of books (that I remember well enough to discuss) with successful endings, and sometimes two themes need to be tied together to make the ending work. I\u2019d say that both Anne of Green Gables<\/em> by L. M. Montgomery and Rebecca<\/em> by Daphne DuMaurier fall into this category. Anne of Green Gables<\/em> ends satisfyingly when both her relationship with Gilbert is straightened out and her near-term future is decided. Rebecca<\/em> ends in its bittersweet way when the mystery is resolved and the MC finally understands herself and her relationship with her husband.<\/p>\n

I love the shape of a quest. If I can frame my story as a quest, whether my MC or my reader sees it that way, I have an easier time with the ending when I get there. Obviously, Ella is on a quest to overcome her curse, and Addie of The Two Princesses of Bamarre<\/em> is on a quest to cure her sister of the Gray Death, but less obviously, Aza in Fairest<\/em> is questing to feel comfortable about herself, or Wilma in The Wish<\/em> is questing for acceptance just as she is. If we can see our story as a quest, the ending is likely to fall into place.<\/p>\n

Greek myths often conclude only at the end of the MC\u2019s life or her ascent into immortality, and that strategy, too, provides a sense of completion, although often not a happy one. A modern example of this that works beautifully is\u2013 *spoiler alert*\u2013the TV series Six Feet Under<\/em> (high school and up).<\/p>\n

Fairy tales generally end with the vanquishing of the villain even more than with the success of the romance. Think of \u201cSnow White,\u201d \u201cCinderella,\u201d and \u201cRumpelstiltskin.\u201d In \u201cSnow White\u201d the prince kisses her before the evil queen gets her just desserts, and the classic Grimm tale ends with the queen dancing to death. We can adapt this destroy-the-villain approach for our purposes if everything else is resolved before then, but no one will be safe until the villain croaks or is permanently put away.<\/p>\n

Mysteries, by contrast, often continue beyond the solution of the puzzle, with a beat about the detective and the state of her life going forward. In a series that state may not be happy, which leaves the reader both satisfied and wanting more.<\/p>\n

The big takeaway is to be absolutely solid about what our story\u2019s problem is, because in it is our satisfying ending.<\/p>\n

Here are three prompts:<\/p>\n

\u2219 I\u2019m not sure how satisfying the ending of \u201cLittle Red Riding Hood\u201d is, in the version in which Red and Grandma are saved by the hunter. What lesson has Red learned? Is it the right lesson? That she needs to be cautious, and if she isn\u2019t, she has to wait to be rescued? Write the scenes that follow the rescue and give a fuller and better resolution to the three of them.<\/p>\n

\u2219 In Pride and Prejudice<\/em>, headstrong and flighty Lydia marries unprincipled Wickham. Write a sequel about their daughter, whose immediate family is penniless and whose more distant relatives have the money to help, but their help comes with conditions. You may have to read or reread P&P<\/em> to do this, but what\u2019s wrong with that? Extra credit if you recreate Austen\u2019s voice and world.<\/p>\n

\u2219 In Greek mythology, Helen is as passive as any fairy tale heroine. She\u2019s married, and Paris carries her off. Eventually, he dies, and Helen is given to someone else. Troy falls, and her husband takes her back. Really! If you don\u2019t know the story, you can read summaries online, starting with the Judgment of Paris, continuing with the Iliad, and ending with the fall of Troy. Write Helen\u2019s story, and give her agency, which will probably mean changing the story.<\/p>\n

Have fun, and save what you write!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First off, a bookseller who\u2019s a friend just sent me this link, which I believe most of you are too old for, but you may know kids who qualify and would do a bang-up job on: https:\/\/www.penguinrandomhouse.ca\/tundra-true-story-contest?ref=PRH997D100A32&utm_source=Tundra_Books&utm_medium=Advertising&utm_content=Email&utm_term=&utm_campaign=Based_on_a_True_Story_Contest_Tundra_Books_-_PW On May 23, 2019, Writing Ballerina wrote, I\u2019m almost done with the first draft of my story!! This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[27],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1092"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1092"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1093,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1092\/revisions\/1093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}