ENDINGS

I've been doing a bit of first readings of manuscripts for my editor--first and second chapers, then last. Though I don't have clues to the middle part of these books, I am always interested in how these authors end their books.

People harbor expectations about them. They want all the threads tied into a nice perfect knot. No dangling pieces anywhere--unless they have a sequel to write. But the love story/crime/mystery or whatever genre of the book, must be completed in this manuscript. And, please, no "surprise" endings, crimes that are suddenly solved by a mysterious stranger, or magic circumstances.

An ending should take you back to the beginning; bringing the story full circle. That ending will gather all of the tails and tags together until readers are shown how and why and when the scenes and characters were building toward the conclusion. Knowing when and how to bring about this ending is often a dilemma for the writer. If writers understand that the ending, together with the beginning, rules the work, it makes the writing of both much simplier--if writing is ever a simple task. Once you understand the beginning and ending, the border of your story, then the author in you can get more prospective on the details in the middle.

A good ending carries the story and your readers smoothly to the destination where the writer intended them to go, allowing them to be satisfied when they close the book when completed. And, as in one of the books I read, if it is the beginning of a series, the author can do this seamlessly while still leaving the reader with a sense of anticipation for the sequel.