Since I'm working on rewriting the last third of my book, I've been thinking a lot about the order in which things happen. How much of what happens at the end really needs to wait that long? Do we save certain moments just because we want a satisfying ending? But if the reader has to wait that long, will it even be satisfying at all?
Every story is going to be different. If you're writing a mystery, for example, then you probably don't want to reveal who the killer is until the end. Every story is going to have its own appropriate climax and you'll most likely know how it will all turn out.
But what if there's more to your ending than the actual ending? Are you saving too much for the end and leaving the reader bored along the way?
For me, at least, I knew something felt off about the end. Not just in the main plot, but in the subplots as well. It was like I wanted to end each part of the story by punching the reader in the face. Sometimes that can be a good thing, but you really want to consider all of the options. If you're saving everything until the very last moment, then what is happening in the meantime? Is it enough to hold the reader's attention?
Maybe the solution is to push things back. The first thing I realized I had to do involved one of the subplots. I had it end with a "holy crap," punch-you-in-the-face sort of moment. But honestly, the more I thought about it, the more forced it felt. I had a character reveal something in a fit of rage and it just felt like I was putting it there to be dramatic and it honestly didn't even fit his character. So I decided to push it back. Have him reveal this information earlier in the story and in a calm, natural way that feels realistic. Not only does this make the subplot more interesting earlier on, but it also left things open for me to end it in a different way. And this new ending feels more realistic for the characters and just less cliched in general. So I think it's going to work a lot better than the original.
As far as the main plot goes, my aha moment was realizing that I could take something from the very last chapter, throw it like a grenade into an earlier part in the story and watch it blow everything up. It was such a scary realization because I never thought of the story going this way but once I started to figure it out, it just felt so right. It also kind of takes some of the pressure off the last chapter now so that I can make that feel more natural as well.
I think my problem was that I was always forcing things to happen, particularly toward the end of the story. But if you keep your mind open and allow yourself to rearrange things and imagine different outcomes then your story might turn out for the better. I think it's better to leave your reader a trail of breadcrumbs leading up to the ending, or you may be forcing everything into the end and just hoping that they believe it.
What are your thoughts on endings? Should they punch the reader in the face? Have you ever taken something from the end and moved it back?
Ugh! I'm having this issue now AND writing the last third as well (for the 100th time too).
ReplyDeleteFor the punch and when it comes in ties in with my need for it. Without it, would my story just be generic? If so, how long will a reader hold onto a same-old-same-old story without that special punch?
What I'm trying to do now is leave trails of breadcrumbs leading to the punch so that hopefully, the reader knows something is different and what's to know what's different without giving the punch away too early. So yeah, I guess I'm taking something from the end and trickling it in the middle.
Sometimes you have to step back and let they progress more naturally. Congrats on the word count.
ReplyDeleteMy books have a lot of little subplots that wrap themselves up along the way.
In the WIP I'm working on now, I had a big reveal that I wanted to have right at the end, but somehow it found itself into the middle of the story instead. I think it'll work better that way.
ReplyDeleteAnd when you haven't written real words for a while, 1,218 is awesome. I was thrilled the day I managed 50 words, so...
Hey, anything over 1k is awesome!! And for months I'd barely written a few words because my characters refused to speak to me. I'm also at the end and doing some rearranging. Good Luck!!!
ReplyDeleteBlow up that story!
ReplyDeleteI think my biggest punch comes before the end.
And that's awesome on your word count.
Over one thousand words is great; that's the length of a flash fiction piece! :D Way to go. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteWoot woot for words! I'm glad things are working out well and rearranging organically. The writing does flow better when it isn't forced.
ReplyDeleteHooray! I'm glad you go back to your writing. And over 1k is awesome. Good luck with the rearranging. :)
ReplyDeleteI hear what you're saying about re-arranging! I believe I spent the better part of last week doing just that with my WIP. I can hardly wait to see how it turns out.
ReplyDeleteThis is why endings have always been rough for me, and then there was this feedback I had from a young reader for one of my practice novels. He said the end was too long and made a reference to Star Wars - "When the death star blew up, the story was over. So when the climax happens, I've learned that the story needs to wrap up quickly thereafter. :)
ReplyDeleteI do save stuff for the end after punching the reader in the face. I think a writer owes it to the reader to cool down, just like after a hard work out. Tie up loose ends. Let the reader know some of the characters live happily ever after.
ReplyDeleteThe ending is the toughest part of the novel for me to write, especially because I often do this thing in a bookstore where if I'm wavering on whether or not to buy a book, I'll peek at the ending. If I don't like the ending, I'm fairly certain that I won't like the book as a whole; a movie I saw, Alex and Emma, had Emma do the same thing with books that she read.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember if you've blogged about this before, but have you tried plotting/outlining your novels? It could help you figure out what kind of ending would work for you and how to lead up to it. I am more of a pantser, in that I just write it all out and then go back and revise, but I've heard that even some pantsers will go back and outline for their revisions.
I've beta read and edited a few manuscripts where I could tell the author was saving all the big stuff for the end. Just made for a frustrating read. I like the idea of having subplots along the way so there is a sense of resolution throughout, leading up to the bigger story.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. I've never written a full-length novel. But I've written some serials, and I try to give each installment a small punch that will bring the reader back each week and lead to a big punch in the end. I suppose if I wrote a novel, I'd do the same thing, treating the chapters as "installments".
ReplyDeleteI think there needs to be a series of "mini punches" along the way. No point saving all the action for the finale if the reader is too bored to get there.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you, not everything needs to happen at the end. My pet peeve is when stories wrap up everything in the last chapter or in the last 10 min of a movie. Tying up loose ends that way feels forced and cliched and I'm wondering if leaving something to the imagination via open ending might not have been more engaging? Or like you said, blow up the story sooner by moving something from the end to the middle.
ReplyDeleteBig thumbs up that you've been able to sit down and write again. Looking forward to more words!
My problem has always been coming up with an ending that satisfies myself, the reader and story in general.
ReplyDeleteAs for all stuff happening at the end, I prefer it to unfold and become completed as you go along.
Yay for new words, that's great! I don't mind endings punching me in the face, sometimes. The best ending to do that to me was in the final book in the Chaos Walking trilogy. So. amazing.
ReplyDeleteGood for you that your writing verve is returning! Life can be a load and sometimes we psych ourselves out with those words floating in our heads. Getting them down - even when they're sucky - needs to be done. Glad you're contemplating what needs to come at the end of a story and what could be sprinkled in among the rest or even revealed a bit earlier. There's always a balance and each story has a different scale.
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