It's the way you end it

For me, the hardest part about writing a story is the ending.  A good ending can truly take what has been a mediocre story and make it great, whereas a terrible ending can ruin a great story.

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD

When I write a story, I start with a web for all my characters with a description of who they are and how they are linked.  Next I think about the themes I want represented in the novel before I move on to a quick outline of the plot and where I see the story going.  I usually have the end in mind when I start writing the story.  For example, when I wrote For You… Anything, I knew Sean would be the one to leave everything behind for Bo, even though throughout the novel it appeared that Bo was the one that would do anything for Sean.   I also planned for Bo’s mother’s death early and planted the scene with the wontons earlier in the novel.

However sometimes as a story develops and as the characters guide me, I find myself rethinking my original plan.  This happened to me when I was writing We Take Our Vows Seriously.  The original plan was for them to reunite and get engaged, but about three quarters of the way through the story, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to write that ending.  I’m sure for the readers it would have been a happier ending and a more traditional one, but for me it didn’t fit with who the characters were and it didn’t convey the message I was trying to tell.   So in the end, the readers got a much different ending than was originally planned. To date, We Take Our Vows Seriously has been the most emotionally draining, but most fulfilling story that I’ve written.

So far, all my stories have ended relatively happily since I can’t seem to bring myself to write a sad ending during this pandemic.  However I do want to keep challenging myself, so maybe my next one will not end as happily.  Who knows?  You’ll just have to read it to find out ;)