Writing endings can be tricky. They’re kind of like a TV or movie actor hitting their marks, without looking at their feet for those bright physical pieces of tape on the set floor.

I think I work as hard on my endings as I do on my openings. Sometimes the endings are straightforward, and other times they’re a little more tricky. Most times, they take a few run throughs-like an actor doing another take of a scene to get all the elements down just right-until they’ve got it just right.

Sometimes, too, you’ve just got to say ‘cut’ and be done. When you’re in there changing words back to how they were the first time. I’m under no illusion that any of my stories are perfect. They are all though, the best I could so at the time with my current skill level. I always go for the best ending, but different stories have different requirements. Different genres likewise.

Of course, this railing about endings stems from a couple of recent books where I felt the author had made some poor decisions. One, the character had been transported to a fantasy world and had adventures and grown and left behind her horrid life here, only to have the ending where she was arbitrarily yanked back here, with no evidence that anything would have changed. It was jarring and off-putting.

Another feature that seems to be creeping in is ending a book on a cliffhanger. To my mind, cliffhangers are useful at the end of a chapter, but off-putting at the end of a book. As in, to find out what happened, you need to buy the next book. For me as a reader, that’s broken trust. How do I know that the next book won’t end likewise? I think the writer’s job is to write a good enough story that of course I want to read their next book.

These examples have actually put me off. Why bother with those authors again when there’s plenty of good reading out there.

Of course, taste plays a role here. Those authors have strong followings and have won awards and find themselves lauded and feted. Not for me, though.

I love an ending that’s uplifting and satisfying. An ending that resolves things for the characters, and perhaps even suggests a life for them beyond the story’s end.

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Well, having ranted, there a little perhaps, I will mention that I have a new science fiction story collection out this week. Heads Up includes seven recent SF stories of varying lengths. Details here on the website. Also available from your favorite retailers.

Heads Up

Big Adventures

An epic collection of mind-shattering stories that vault across the cosmos.

A woman looking for her father. A crew trapped on a bizarre planet. A researcher stuck inside her models.

And More.

Seven blistering stories of calamity and catastrophe, all with a deft human touch.

Includes the acclaimed time travel novella “Chasing Fox Palton”.

A fascinating collection from award-winning writer Sean Monaghan, author of the “Wildest Skies” series.

Cover image © Adobe Stock.

 

Thanks for reading,

Sean