Losing the plot and finding an ending

LilyC

I wondered if anyone has any advice for capturing an ending?

I'm not short of ideas to get stories going, though it's rarely a full plot. Much of what I write comes from an overheard chance remark, a passing observation or an opening sentence hitting my brain. I then write like fury until... it gradually... peters... out.

I must admit I'm doing better, and am actually finishing short stories these days (especially after lots of great Talkback advice and support) but still find myself floundering sometimes. Rather than struggle to find an ending I'll leave it until the next day, or even for a few months, but there are still too many unfinished tales hanging around.

I have the feeling it's to do with discipline, and maybe I should treat the unfinished stories as exercises in the meantime.

Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks

Tessadragon

Good character + desire = getting what they desire, or learning the truth

Bad character + desire = irony and either getting what they desire but finding that it's not what they've imagined, or else being thwarted in their desire, in favour of a better character.

Usually i aim to give my characters a bit of peace at the end, such as the story i wrote ages ago about a demon hunter's daughter coming to terms with the demon hunter's death, and stepping into the demon hunter role with her new knowledge of life. My second story, of a group of demon hunters getting a new recruit but then finding that she speaks a different language, initially earning their derision and frustration until they realise that their aim is the same, so their hunting result is the same if not better.
Best way to acquaint yourself with what you would feel to be the best, most satisfying ending, would be to read as many short stories as possible. Surprisingly, the ones I've most enjoyed weren't actually those famous ones by authors such as Edgar Allen Poe or Virginia Woolf, or whoever else...my favourite, most satisfying ones, came from childhood books of short stories such as the little book of ghost stories.

LilyC

Thanks for this.

I didn't really like short stories myself until Joanne Harris; except for some Stephen King and Clive Barker. Perhaps I'll revisit those.

I have a lot of the (original) Andrew Lang coloured fairy books on my book shelves which I go through phases of reading, but never with my own writing in mind, so maybe these too could help.

I like the idea of giving your characters peace - of the stories I've finished, most come to a grizzly end - I think that's a kind of therapy for me, and hopefully readers would feel the same about the baddie or antihero getting their comeuppance.

Another fear, and one that leaves me disappointed with short stories I've read in magazines and online in the last year is when they come to an abrupt end. So many finsih like this, almost as though the author can't be bothered to end it properly so stick a witty twist in, but without a suitable build-up. I don't want to ever be found guilty of this, but do sometimes find it hard to stop.

Love Virginia Woolf by the way; Orlando is very close to my heart.

dorothyd

the first comment I need to make here is that if you didn't really like short stories, you have a bit of a way to go to absorb them into your mind so you can write them yourself. I would suggest, if you can get hold of it, a giant fat book of 50 American Short Stories, we got ours in the local second hand shop for £3. They are an object lesson in how to write short stories! Or any of Ray Bradbury's wonderful collections. I didn't always give my characters a peaceful ending, the need is to have a satisfactory ending, a wrapping up of the whole story in one neat package. Lily, have a serious go at the One Word Challenge, that demands you wrap up the story with a neat ending.

LilyC

Thanks Dorothy. Will do, on both counts.

Stirling

I first read Hemingway's The Killers and it blew me away. Goodbye adjective/adverb ridden writing, hello pared down prose!

Dwight

You're right Stirling: everything in brief.

Lucy, I wouldn’t be surprised if your ‘wondering how to finish the story’ is a problem to be expected if your usual practice is to charge off on the spur of an enthusiastic start. I don’t understand how anyone can write a sustained piece of writing in that way, not knowing where you are going.

Once an idea for a story presents itself, I like to play around with it, either in my mind or more probably on the pc, brain-storming to see its possibilities. And that is where the ending arrives: before I have written the opening line. May I quote an idea from Margaret Lucke’s book: “Writing Great Short Stories”? She reckons you need to know what your story is aiming for from the start.
“The story goal. No matter what your goal might be, it becomes the organising principle of the story. The decision you make about the story: who the characters are, what incidents are depicted, where the incidents take place, how the story is structured, what words are chosen to tell it: they all derive from the goal.
This goal is the purpose of the story.”

She does however say that your final goal may not be the same as your initial goal. You may realise you want to head in another direction (i.e. you have set yourself a different goal), but your story is aiming to make a particular point. So much more satisfying than imaginative free writing, don’t you think?

Carol

[quote=Dwight]She does however say that your final goal may not be the same as your initial goal. You may realise you want to head in another direction [/quote]

That is true, so true.
I can't get on with a story if I don't have some idea as to how I want it to end. But sometimes the end I envision won't quite work, but inspiration soon sorts it out in a slightly different way. :)

Stan2

^

LilyC

Thanks all. I'm really enjoying the learning curve (though I hate that expression).

dora

Call it a learning lean to then, we won't mind.

LilyC

I like that. Though I call my lean to a conservatory.