{"id":1620,"date":"2022-02-09T08:35:57","date_gmt":"2022-02-09T13:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/?p=1620"},"modified":"2022-02-09T08:35:57","modified_gmt":"2022-02-09T13:35:57","slug":"the-beginning-in-the-ending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/09\/the-beginning-in-the-ending\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beginning in the Ending"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On January 17, 2021, Some girl wrote, I love writing beginnings, and middles are fine, but endings always stump me. I can\u2019t write endings that are a good end to the story.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My editors say they are extremely anticlimactic and aren\u2019t a good fit to the rest of the story. Endings are the main reason I abandon stories. I once rewrote the ending four times and every time it felt awkward, abrupt, and anticlimactic. Anyone have any advice?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several of us weighed in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melissa Mead: I have the same problem! Sometimes I try to link the ending to something in the beginning. And I try to focus on the heart of the story- Did the MC get what they wanted? Learn something? Change in some other way?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it\u2019s not too tacky to use my own stuff as an example, here\u2019s one that I think works fairly well. It starts with \u201cIt was a nightmare come to life,\u201d and \u201cGallop\u2026gallop\u2026gallop\u2026,\u201d and it sort of ends that way too, but something\u2019s changed.  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/dailysciencefiction.com\/fantasy\/fairy-tales\/melissa-mead\/horseman<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Me (now): This is lots of fun and the ending works beautifully.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back then, I asked Some Girl for clarification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some girl: The stories I write feel like they were building up to something bigger than what I wrote down, but I can\u2019t really tell what the story was building up to.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes I decide on the ending that fits before I write the book, but that doesn\u2019t work either because as the stories move around, the ending I originally thought would work won\u2019t anymore, and I don\u2019t want to try to mold my story to fit the ending.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melissa Mead: I agree with not molding the story to fit the ending. Maybe ask someone to read the story, then ask them \u201cWas there anything you still wanted to know after you read the ending?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SluggishWriter: I\u2019m still working on this myself, but I find that the most satisfying endings for me are when you can directly tie it back to something in the beginning. For example, a character asks a question or makes a joke early on, then references back to that and provides an answer or some insight at the end of the story. I\u2019ve heard of this being called \u201cbrackets,\u201d too \u2013 as if you\u2019ve enclosed your story by having one thing at the beginning, then closing it up at the end. And you can layer multiples of these within a story.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christie V Powell: The climax is the main show-down with your antagonistic force. What has your character been fighting against the whole time? Then think of ways you can make it even more exciting. Make sure that antagonistic force, who or whatever it is, puts up a good fight.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll also want to look at the major events of the story so far. What could they lead up to? Ideally, all of the conflicts lead up to this one moment. Remember in Ella Enchanted<\/u>, when Ella is struggling with her curse at the very end? Her mind goes back over many of the major events of the story, showing how all of them have impacted the main conflict (Ella vs. her curse).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Story structure helps me get a better idea of what the climax should be, since it helps me define the important moments that lead up to it. I use a variation of the 3-Act formula, and I find that it helps me get the bones of the story down, so that my creative mind is free to work on details.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since you can\u2019t click on links, here\u2019s a quick overview:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Act 1.A: characteristic moment(s), high action, inciting incident<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Act 1.B: normal world, first plot point (\u201cpoint of no return\u201d)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Act 2.A: enter the new world, first pinch point (learn about the antagonist)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Act 2.B: reactions, midpoint (the main character learns a major Truth about the world)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Act 2.C: start acting with purpose, second pinch point (involve the antagonist, reminder of what\u2019s at stake)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Act 2.D: act with purpose, often includes a \u201cfalse victory,\u201d followed by the second pinch point (low point of the story)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Act 3.A: finish off loose ends, prepare for climax. Trigger (climax set off)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Act 3.B: Climax with the antagonist, then resolution where the story and character\u2019s beginning and end are compared.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great thoughts!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the four years it took me to finish my second murder mystery for kids, Stolen Magic<\/em>, I believed that writing itself was magical, and pantsing would always guide me to my ending, but I got so lost on that book that I realized I had to be more intentional in the future. If I had been, I might have achieved some of the story I was hoping to tell. I\u2019m still sad that I couldn\u2019t write that tale, which grows more alluring and more regretted as time goes by. (I like what I finally came up with, but that original idea is the one that got away.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These days, I won\u2019t start writing until I know the ending. Since I\u2019m still mostly a pantser, I don\u2019t usually see it in detail, but I have the general result in mind. Let\u2019s use the fairy tale \u201cAladdin,\u201d as an example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most important to me always is plot, but character is a close second. Briefly, Aladdin is criticized at the beginning for being lazy. But is he? I don\u2019t know. He\u2019s flattered into helping a man who poses as his uncle but is really an evil magician who promises to make his fortune. The magician takes Aladdin to a remote spot, where he gives him a ring and sends him underground to fetch a particular lamp. When Aladdin doesn\u2019t hand him the lamp before emerging, the magician kicks him off the ladder and plunges him in darkness. Moving along, Aladdin discovers the genie in the ring and the one in the lamp and uses their magic to win the sultan\u2019s daughter for his wife. But the magician returns and disguises himself as a merchant, exchanging, oddly, old lamps for new. Unknowing, the sultan\u2019s daughter is transported in her palace to the magician\u2019s distant home. With only the weaker ring genie to help him, Aladdin can\u2019t just magically get her back. The genie can poof him to the palace, but he has to do the rest, using a poisonous powder that he just happens to have and the help of his wife. There\u2019s a second part that follows involving the now dead magician\u2019s younger brother, also a magician, but most modern versions leave that part off\u2014sensibly, I think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a happy ending, but it\u2019s unsatisfying because the genies do all the heavy lifting, and the actions of Aladdin, the sultan\u2019s daughter, and even the magician are unmotivated. Is Aladdin really lazy? If yes, why? Aside from her rank, why does he want to marry the sultan\u2019s daughter (whom he\u2019s never met)? After they’re married, why doesn\u2019t he tell her the truth about the lamp so that she\u2019ll be careful with it? What\u2019s their relationship like? What does she think about him? Why does the magician kidnap her? What else does he want the lamp for? Why did he kick Aladdin back underground when he could have been a little patient and gotten what he wanted? Why do the genies obey people?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of all, what is the key problem of the story? Because a satisfying ending has to respond to the problem. The ending\u2019s seeds start sprouting as soon as we write or type our first page or chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the problem is Aladdin\u2019s laziness, then maybe we have a coming-of-age story, and we have to show how Aladdin develops and regresses and eventually (for our ending) acts emphatically to fulfill his potential as a future sultan. If I understand Christie V Powell\u2019s method, the Lie might be that Aladdin is well served by being lazy (and we can give him a backstory that explains this), and the Truth is that he can be truly himself only when he becomes the prime actor in his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this is a love story and the problem is Aladdin and the sultan\u2019s daughter coming to love each other, then we are heading for a different ending. In this one, conceivably, rather than vanquishing the evil magician, they escape with their lives and run off together, no longer needing the trappings of wealth and title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the problem is overcoming the evil magician, who has bigger plans than making off with a young lady, we\u2019ll emphasize other aspects of the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or we can tell the story of the ring or lamp genie. Or of the sultan, who lets his daughter marry a man purely because he\u2019s rich. Or of Aladdin\u2019s younger sister, who isn\u2019t mentioned in the fairy tale, but she can exist. What might her problem be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For each one, we design our characters to make the ending both difficult and achievable. And we create plot moments that challenge our MCs on the way to the ending we have in mind, which, if we\u2019re pantsers, may unfold in ways that surprise us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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