Chapter Three: An End by Any Other Name Would Be as Sweet

How should your story end?

First of all, why are you asking me? I'm just some guy. I started this blog as a dude who enjoys writing, and since that was just a few days ago you shouldn't be taking anything I say as gospel. I appreciate the thought, but please do your research as well.

So let's talk about endings. How do you go from starting a story, from beginning the journey of a new and lovable character, to the denouement and the final page before all the back patting begins? To be honest, I've never had a dedicated process to finishing my story. Often I'll start an idea with the end goal in mind only to change it halfway through, and then again a bit later. 

There's no science to it. As a creator, you must be willing to step up and ask the hard questions. If your story is worth the pages, then there must be a point to it all. Where does this quest your knight is on take him? Do the aliens win in the end? Was it all a dream?

Sometimes you have to write without knowing what comes next. I wrote most of my shorts with only the vaguest idea of where the end game took the reader. The novel was a little different, but as it turned into a trilogy there have been many deviations from the original plan. And I have embraced each one. 

You have to be willing to roll with the punches. Sometimes that means your idea will twist and turn into something completely different from what you had to start. That's fine. Be willing to accept change. More often than not, change is good. 

Here's your homework: Take any idea that you're working on and come up with two or three new endings. Go radical, don't just change the main character's hair color. And you know what? I think you'll be happier with some of the weird crap you divine. 

If you're not, I'll be here. Let me know.

Chapter Two: Drawing Outside the Outline

I won't say that I retained everything I learned in college. Heck, I won't say I remember most. But some things stick with me as I work on writing and editing the novel. My teacher, the esteemed Leslie Epstein, always stressed a strong outline for a story. If you free wheel, you tend to end up with a mishmash of ideas and no real point. Remember that nearly every combination of elements has been tried and tried again, often without success. Before you start any new piece, ask yourself why you're telling it.

Does something specifically important happen? Is this character unique or interesting in any real way? Are you action sequences really that freakin' awesome?

More than likely you'll answer no to many of these questions, but that's OK. You wanna write it? Go get 'em, tiger.

Seriously.

I've written more than my fair share of terrible stories, all in the name of writing something truly interesting. I have a short that read 28 pages long, all about giant sand golems from space that take over Earth. Which all somehow had to do with a convoluted love story between a cadet and his teacher. It was epically terrible, but some of the themes and scenes from that crap fest ended up in the scifi novel, filtered down to their bare elements of course.

My point is that, as Heinlein famously said, a writer must write. And if you want to be a writer, than you need to finish what you start. No matter how it ends.

Which brings us back to the outline. How else do you expect to build the proper foundation for a solid story? If you can lay the groundwork for a beginning and middle, some A and B plot per se, then the ending will come much easier. Even better, the whole thing can make a lick of sense.

I free wrote my novel, which was not at all a good idea. It took much longer than it should have, and in the end I did not accomplish my original goal of actually finishing the story. Now, while playing with ideas for book two of the trilogy, I am actually designing an outline chapter by chapter to really get this story flowing.

And it feels great.

So here is your homework, you writers out there (who somehow accidentally found this blog). Take a story you love, one you wrote and didn't finish--or finished and hate the ending. Start over with an outline of the plot and see what you get. Can you summarize the story in a few sentences? Can you find your A, B and C stories? If not, try harder. You have the words inside, just spit them out onto the page.

Good?

Now, flesh out the outline into beats. For scriptwriters, this means literal beats and scenes. For novelists, try laying out individual chapters.

If you can manage to do that, I bet the next step of actually writing things down will come much more quickly. And if it doesn't, there's always working in an office.

Just kidding.

Chapter One: Man, You Script

I spent the better part of ten years not working on my manuscript. This isn't something I'm particularly happy about, but there's no way to change it now. I wasted a lot of time getting to this stage and now I'm playing against the clock.

But I've realized that the "clock" is self-imposed. If I don't reach my deadline for publishing, who have I let down? My legion of fans? My agent? My mother? (OK, that one maybe) Like so many creative types out there, I'm plagued by the "if only" of the situation.

-  If only I had done X, then Y would be easier right now

It's the same concept as sitting at a poker table, hand already folded, and watching the card you needed arrive on the river (we're playing Texas Hold'em in this simile).  You can't bet on what's already been folded, and you can't kick yourself over what is already done.

When I finally decided to sit down and write what is now The Gray Wars (working title) Volume One, I did set myself a deadline. In all honesty, I missed that deadline. But what I did get was a first draft of the first part of a trilogy, which was not what I expected at all. Am I happy with it? Hell yes, it is an accomplishment I worked long and hard to achieve. Step two, editing, has been another story altogether.

So what nuggets of wisdom can I impart on you, the struggling writer / my mother who reads this to support her son?

Put yourself on the spot.

When I wanted to write my manuscript under a deadline, I knew that I was the worst timekeeper of all. But my friends, they can be anal about that sort of thing. So I made a FaceBook group, put an end date, and made them my editors. I told them to be harsh, to criticize my habits and to make my life hell if I didn't sit down, shut up and write. And you know what? It worked.

In writing this blog, I hope that I can lock down some of my process for future writers. I don't know if any of it will be helpful, but I have a tremendous ego and that's a start.

Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a slice of banana bread in the kitchen with my name on it.