Ending the book before it is finished

PastMidnight · Jul 12, 2007

I am probably about 20,000 words from the end and I'm reconsidering how I have this current section of the book set up. I can't think of a way to do it differently and it is slowing up my writing, which has been going very steadily. I know how I would like the story to climax and end, but just don't know how I want to go about this penultimate section.

I am considering just leaving a hole where that section needs to go and going ahead with writing the climax and ending. Then type 'the end', put the thing aside for the time being, and then hope to get a fresh idea when I come back and start reading again from the beginning. I could get a great idea that leads to the ending, I could get a great idea and change the ending, or I could realize that I don't really need this penultimate section at all.

My question is this: would it be a mistake to conclude the book and set it aside with this gaping hole in it? Or have you found success in going ahead with writing the bits you know and then coming back to fill in the gaps?

I admit, I'd like to see the satisfaction of 'the end' and I figure that filling in the hole could be part of the revision process. But I can't help thinking that this is cheating....

dub · Jul 12, 2007

Absolutely, I always write the end and go back and fill in. Keep notes to maintain continuity.

JJ Cooper · Jul 12, 2007

Don't know what kind of book you got going there PastMidnight, but if it were my thriller I would take the opportunity to add a sub-plot/twist. As for skipping, I can't do it. I've got to figure something out before I move on. That's just how my brain functions.

JJ

Spiny Norman · Jul 12, 2007

I don't think it would be a mistake. Taking a step back is usually a great idea. I always have a general idea of how my stuff is going to end. It's like knowing there's one great chord resolution you want to have at the end of a symphony. The hard part, though, is orchestrating it and making the progression something worth listening to.

Danthia · Jul 12, 2007

I've found that writing a summary or whatever details I can think of to get through a rough scene helps me. I can skim over a scene, go to something that's alive in my mind, then come back later when the msue is working and flesh out my summary. Somethig like "So Bob runs through touwn looking for Sue. They run into the police, lead them on a merry chase, hen find the golden idol until a waterfall." Enough to maintain what you want to have happen, but not the actual scene itself.

ccarver30 · Jul 12, 2007

Go for it (end it and put it aside)- at this point, what do you have to lose?
Good luck!

Maryn · Jul 12, 2007

I think I'd write how the ending goes but not write the actual ending itself, then set the whole aside and work on something else. In the intervening months or years, I'd jot any ideas I had that would lead to that ending I planned, and when I finished something else, I'd return to this work, evaluate what I'd already written, my notes, and my proposed ending, and see if I have something. If not, it goes back in the drawer while I write something else.

Maryn, whose drawers are overflowing*

* Feel free to make the necessary joke to yourself

KingM · Jul 12, 2007

I think the best thing to do is forge for the end, keeping separate file detailing all of the known defects. When you're just starting, you're book will be in horrible shape when you reach the end; as you gain in skill, the defects list will be longer but with fewer show-stoppers.

You should be especially cautious of backtracking midstory because of fear. That is, you worry the book will suck (it probably will, at first) and so you delay writing that final sentence. So long as you haven't completed your draft, you don't have to face that fear. This is a recipe for a hard drive full of half-written novels.

Good luck.

ChaosTitan · Jul 12, 2007

Maryn said:
I think I'd write how the ending goes but not write the actual ending itself, then set the whole aside and work on something else. In the intervening months or years, I'd jot any ideas I had that would lead to that ending I planned, and when I finished something else, I'd return to this work, evaluate what I'd already written, my notes, and my proposed ending, and see if I have something. If not, it goes back in the drawer while I write something else.

My thoughts exactly.

The trouble with writing the ending without those other 20k words is that things may change. You may come back to the book with a great idea for that empty hole, but that idea will completely change the ending you've written.

Harper K · Jul 12, 2007

I'm struggling with the same thing right now.

What I'm doing is writing a long synopsis of my last few chapters on paper. I'll type these mini-chapters up tonight and use them as placeholders in the Word file that contains my manuscript. I think I'll feel more in control about getting to the ending this way. I'm usually a "just wing it" writer, but right now that's really slowing me down. Even though I just started the mini-chapters this morning, I can already feel that they're getting me past my block.

But I'm not going to let myself write "The End" until I've actually fleshed out those mini-chapters and written that pesky just-before-the-climax chapter. Just based on past behavior, I know if I let myself write "The End," I'll never come back and finish the middle part of the novel. YMMV, of course, but I need to save that true ending satisfaction for when I really have ended the book.

Best of luck, PastMidnight!

maestrowork · Jul 12, 2007

My thought: write the end if you must and come back later with a fresh idea. Books are re-written. No one says the first draft has to be 100%.

MidnightMuse · Jul 12, 2007

Maryn said:
Maryn, whose drawers are overflowing*

* Feel free to make the necessary joke to yourself

Okay, now . . . I agree - you'll have to decide what works for YOU, vs what works for other people - but my opinion would be to jot down some notes, however detailed you wish to be, regarding the ending you have in mind. Then let it stew while you work on something else, or start your edits from page 1 and see if the rest comes to you by the time you get to it.

You're not writing in stone, first drafts are just that - first drafts. That's why the eraser and delete button were invented.

Azraelsbane · Jul 12, 2007

I've had the final chapter of my current main WIP done for over 3 months. Not at all weird imo. Just make sure you'll have enough steam left to go back and finish up. Once you write the end you're suddenly not leading up to that great, climactic bit of writing anymore.

cooltouch · Jul 12, 2007

Ultimately, I think it's what works best for you.

I have found myself in quite similar situations that you're in now. One thing that has worked very well for me has been to write that later scene, whether the ending or not, and then to go back to where I was stuck. Often, the process of writing the scene will be enough to get me unstuck in the earlier scene. It has introduced new possibilities for directions to take the characters, etc.

So, I'd say go for it. What can it hurt? Write the ending, then take another look at the scene where you were stuck. If ideas start popping into your head, put 'em down on paper and take it from there.

Best,

Michael

PastMidnight · Jul 12, 2007

Thank you all for the great comments! I was afraid that this wasn't going to be one of those questions with an easy answer. I should know by now that anything related to the writing process pretty much comes down to 'whatever works for YOU'.

I think I've decided to just forge on ahead and make a note of where I leave holes, along with any ideas that I have for that section. I've been on such a roll lately that I don't want to lose my momentum. So this is what I've been doing today. What I'm starting to suspect, though, is that I really am not going to need this penultimate section in question. Later on, I'll need to do a bit of cleaning up and tying together what I wrote previously with what I'm writing now, but I'm not going to worry about that right now. I think I was putting too much pressure on myself by thinking that I HAD to have something right there and now I'm finding that it isn't really necessary.

satori said:
Just based on past behavior, I know if I let myself write "The End," I'll never come back and finish the middle part of the novel. YMMV, of course, but I need to save that true ending satisfaction for when I really have ended the book.

This is what I'm worried about too! I think I'll hold off on writing 'The End' until I've done at least the first revision and have all of the 'parts' there.

ChaosTitan said:
The trouble with writing the ending without those other 20k words is that things may change. You may come back to the book with a great idea for that empty hole, but that idea will completely change the ending you've written.

I see what you're saying, but I think I would be ok with that. If the idea I have to fill that hole is that great, then maybe it will suggest an even better ending?

Histry Nerd · Jul 12, 2007

Hey, PastMidnight -

Is it possible you're planning the wrong ending and trying to force these last 20,000 words to fit it? Maybe you need to write what comes next and see what it leads to. Your characters may come up with a better ending than you have in mind.

For what it's worth.
HN

mscelina · Jul 12, 2007

You know, JK Rowling has said for years that she had the last chapter of the last book written and locked away. The last word for a long time was going to be "scar." Hordes of Harry Potter fans have debated it and its meaning.

*grin*

Then, she announced that it had changed.

When it boils right down to it, it's always a good idea to know where you're going. Don't be surprised, however, at how you get there--and when you do, be prepared to adapt that conclusion as necessary. Good luck.

ChaosTitan · Jul 12, 2007

PastMidnight said:
I see what you're saying, but I think I would be ok with that. If the idea I have to fill that hole is that great, then maybe it will suggest an even better ending?

Absolutely, it could.

I wasn't warning against it, just offering an observation. The ending you write could be tossed completely, so don't get attached to it. That sort of thing.

Shadow_Ferret · Jul 12, 2007

As has been said, write what works for you. If you want to skip to the ending, by all means, skip to the ending. I rarely write my novels completely through start to finish. I'm always skipping through, writing this chapter, this scene, the ending, the beginning, often it's like a verbal jigsaw puzzle that I finally piece together at the end and fill in all the empty spots.

Then with each subsequent draft, all those little lines that show where the pieces were put together are gradually rubbed away until it's all one seamless wonderful whole.

Danger Jane · Jul 12, 2007

I always seem to write light. And then I agonize for a little while about what I can add, and then I get some beta readers lined up to help me figure that out. I guess I'm like you in that respect, I write everything I can think of up until the ending, and then I add the meat. So yeah, I would recommend writing the end as you see it for now, then adding in the revision stage.

Ending the book before it is finished

PastMidnight

Oponionated

dub

He ain't right...

JJ Cooper

.

Spiny Norman

Danthia

ccarver30

Nicole Castro

Maryn

I Tried

KingM

ChaosTitan

Around

Harper K

here's to the girl on the go

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

MidnightMuse

Midnight Reading

Azraelsbane

Agony is defeat

cooltouch

PastMidnight

Oponionated

Histry Nerd

Moving Forward!

mscelina

Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you

ChaosTitan

Around

Shadow_Ferret

Court Jester

Danger Jane