![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
mbarker.livejournal.comWriting Excuses 10.40: What's the Difference between Ending and Stopping?
From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2015/10/04/writing-excuses-10-40-whats-the-difference-between-ending-and-stopping/
Key points: Do you just stop when you get to the right length? How do you pick an ending? "A satisfactory ending is a satisfactory destination." Sometimes we, the author, know the ending, but forget to tell the reader. Endings should fall out naturally, when you tie up enough of the plot threads to answer the question of the novel. Don't make the mistake of thinking an awesome ending, a clever line, means that you've reached the stopping point. That makes stories end too fast. Beware ending a novel on a scene, end on a sequel. Don't try to wrap up everything! Consider an epilogue. Be careful of the Harry Potter flash forward ending.
( And when the time has come... )
[Brandon] In fact, I'm going to give us some homework that is going to try to get you... You should be at your ending of your story that you've been working on as you've been listening to these podcasts. I want you to try to nudge it two directions and see if you like it better. I want you to try an epilogue where maybe you approach some of these things, a Harry Potter style epilogue, or an epilogue where you kind of... You spend a little more time with the sequel. Then I want you to try to back up. I want you to cut off part of your ending and see if you can get more of this sort of emotional resonance into the part that's left. You do this by giving clear indications of what those questions are going to be and what people are going to try in the first part of your ending, rather than kind of lingering on the second part of your ending. Just experiment with different lengths of ending for your story and see what it does to it. This has been Writing Excuses. We want to thank our wonderful audience of Writing Excuses cruise members.
[Screams]
[Brandon] We want to thank Nalo for being with us. Thank you so much.
[Nalo] Thank you.
[Screams]
[Brandon] Now, listeners, you're out of excuses. Now go write.
From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2015/10/04/writing-excuses-10-40-whats-the-difference-between-ending-and-stopping/
Key points: Do you just stop when you get to the right length? How do you pick an ending? "A satisfactory ending is a satisfactory destination." Sometimes we, the author, know the ending, but forget to tell the reader. Endings should fall out naturally, when you tie up enough of the plot threads to answer the question of the novel. Don't make the mistake of thinking an awesome ending, a clever line, means that you've reached the stopping point. That makes stories end too fast. Beware ending a novel on a scene, end on a sequel. Don't try to wrap up everything! Consider an epilogue. Be careful of the Harry Potter flash forward ending.
( And when the time has come... )
[Brandon] In fact, I'm going to give us some homework that is going to try to get you... You should be at your ending of your story that you've been working on as you've been listening to these podcasts. I want you to try to nudge it two directions and see if you like it better. I want you to try an epilogue where maybe you approach some of these things, a Harry Potter style epilogue, or an epilogue where you kind of... You spend a little more time with the sequel. Then I want you to try to back up. I want you to cut off part of your ending and see if you can get more of this sort of emotional resonance into the part that's left. You do this by giving clear indications of what those questions are going to be and what people are going to try in the first part of your ending, rather than kind of lingering on the second part of your ending. Just experiment with different lengths of ending for your story and see what it does to it. This has been Writing Excuses. We want to thank our wonderful audience of Writing Excuses cruise members.
[Screams]
[Brandon] We want to thank Nalo for being with us. Thank you so much.
[Nalo] Thank you.
[Screams]
[Brandon] Now, listeners, you're out of excuses. Now go write.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}