The Never Ending Novel

It's not something that works for every writer, but my advice about endings is to write one. Don't worry about whether your current approach into it works; this is a draft. (Tip: Everything you write is a draft until you decide it's done.) If you're happy with your ending, backtrack and revise/rewrite whatever you need to - including character traits and motivations - until you've smoothed everything out.

Writing is like ironing. You never get all the wrinkles out on the first pass.

I agree with Liz . The first draft is the starting point of a book. You don't need to worry about inconsistency , or changes in the story to actuly fit together , including the end . Working on the first draft is the place to pull things in , but even then, your working on the second draft . It is not unusually for some writers to go to 8 plus drafts .

I wanted to add: years ago someone gave me the advice to write the ending before I was done with the book. As someone who'd always written sequentially - and only finished one novel-length thing many, many years ago - that sounded dubious, but what did I have to lose?

I tried it. It worked for me. It helped guide and steady my narrative, even if the ending later changed. It helped me figure out how to finish a book. I do it every time now.

As someone who spent years writing "novels" that meandered for hundreds of pages without accomplishing anything, much less actually ending, I have found outlines, and other forms of systematic brainstorming, to be extremely helpful. I suggest you list each unresolved plot thread, so that you can see them in front of you, then start small with the solution process. What ending would solve only one of the plot threads? How could you change that ending to solve two at once? Three at once?

If you have trouble listing the plot threads at all, it might mean you don't yet have a clear enough picture of your story as a whole. Ending it well will be almost impossible until you figure this part out.

The most elegant and satisfying endings are the ones that resolve all plot threads in one go, and do so in a natural way. It can take some intense problem-solving skills to engineer something like this, especially without creating new plot holes or introducing convenient cure-alls at the last moment (e.g. deus ex machina). But with practice, it's definitely possible.

If you do list the plot threads as I suggest, could you post them here? Maybe we can help jumpstart your brainstorming process.

talktidy said:

Anyone got any advice about endings.

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1. Contract with the reader. The solution to the story (the ending) is promised up front, in the first pages. The central conflict is presented in the first pages. Chapter 1--We should know the protagonist and have a hint of the problem they are wrestling with. A reader then expects that struggling with this conflict/problem will define the journey the character takes. So, if you are not sure of the ending, perhaps the issue is in how the first pages are set up? (Maybe you are more character focused than plot focused--did you set a contract with the reader in chapter 1?)

2. The end reflects the beginning, only different. Take, for example, coming-of-age stories. At the beginning, the young hero/heroine longs for more, for their own agency, for independence, and we know as readers that the protagonist will embark on a journey in which they become that. But the ending, in which they have achieved 'more' and 'independence,' ... is not quite what they expected. Maybe it came at too great a cost, the loss of innocence, or loved ones, or some such. They have attained their desire, so there is (story-wise) a reflection back to the beginning, and they have learned that although wisdom is part of independence, that it comes with pain. The end reflects the beginning. Put another way, the character sees what they were after, maybe got what they were after, only now, at the end, they see it from a new perspective.

I'd say look at how you set up your story, and what your central conflict is. Is it promised in one way or another to the reader in chapter 1? Those pages inform the ending.

I also like the adage:

If there is a problem in the story, the problem is earlier in the story.

I would not worry about the ending. You said that you do not want to publish it so it dose not matter how long it is.

A novel today is about 80,000-100,000 word. but that is "just" because the market that say so. if you are not going to put it on the market and this is only for your self, it can be 200,000 word or more. As long as you enjoy writing it, keep on going.

It also sound like you are writing a series rather then a story.

talktidy said:

I know my novel is bloated and overly long. As it was a practice piece, though, and written with the sole purpose to please myself alone, I did not worry too much about the word count. I figured writing is writing, and I need all the practice I can get.

However, and it is a big however, I am beginning to think there is a more worrisome problem causing the bloat. I'm prevaricating. I am having trouble getting to the end. I have a loose idea of what the ending entails, but the closer I get to there, the harder it is to wrangle all the narrative threads into something that makes a coherent finale. I realise that a lot of that is due to the bloat, but even when I concentrate on the primary narrative threads I am having problems. For instance, as presently constructed, the plot brings two characters together and they work in unison for the common good. Except I am doubtful they would ever do that. Plot is at odds with character. If I rethink this and look for other options, I have not the first idea of what to write.

I usually need something like notes on where the story is going before I can write new scenes. At the moment I got nothing.

Lovely. I am blocked.

Anyone got any advice about endings.

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Hi,

I would suggest focusing on how the story will end in detail and then worry about getting stuff to line up.

To get things to mesh, it might help to put something in the characters history/personality that would give them the motivation you need to get them where you want.

I hope this helps.

Good Luck!
Juggernaut

Having the same problem. My book is about 120,000 words now, but I am only at about 75% of the outline. Since this is a first draft, I'm just letting it go and will try to cut in the subsequent drafts. I do know the ending, but it's changed from my outline several times.

My advice about endings is that the most satisfying ones do not have to wrap up every single plot thread in a tidy way. It's ok for endings to be a little bit messy.

I have a slightly different perspective from most of the advice above. I wouldn't "just finish" to at least get a version of the ending on paper. I would put it aside for a while and start work on something else.

If you're struggling with the ending it's probably because you have multiple plot threads and are trying to work out how best to tie them all off. Sometimes you just need to let it rest until .you wake up one day and the answer is staring you in the face.

Despite being a consummate planner - always working towards a planned ending from the start - I always have a better idea when I actually get to the end of the draft. I never rush it.

I've actually gotten very good about predicting how long a book will be. Last year, I did a trilogy and before I ever wrote any of it, I predicted my first book would be short, about 85k, the second around 100k and the third 135k. They turned out to be 84k, 96k and 134k. The book after, I figured would be 125k and it came in at 124k. Right now, I'm figuring around 110k on my WIP. We'll see.