Anyone Can Begin A Story

....... Anyone Can Begin A Story .......

"I thought your story was well-written and entertaining but the ending was weak."

"The ending was confusing."

"The ending could have been better."

Naturally I do my best, so reading the same criticism over and over in reviews of my stories set me to thinking about stories and endings.

It is so easy to begin a story... Bob was trapped between the killers and the sea. If he jumped, he was sure to drown. But he knew the killers slowly advancing toward him with their clubs and chains would have no mercy.

It seems to me that beginning a story is like setting up a problem, but ending a story is more like solving a problem. For example, anyone can holler out, "Hey, what's the square root of 169?" But only the math whiz can actually solve the problem and snap back the answer, "13".

The skills of describing scenery and characters, establishing conflict, engaging the reader are all skills that any would-be writer can learn to do well. But crafting a story into a unified whole with a beginning, a middle, and an ending that leaves the reader saying, "That was a good story!" ... Well, that may be the skill that makes you worthy of being called a "pro".

I know why my endings are weak. It's because I have no idea what they will be until I have written most of the story. I am not thinking critically about my writing while I write. Instead, I am thinking, "Gee, I love the way all these words are just tumbling out of my mind." And I am NOT thinking, "All this flow is great, but just where is this thing headed?"

So what happens? Eventually I get tired of writing the story and I dream up some quickie ending so I can quit writing!

I have read that a lot of writers think of the ending first, and then write the story. That will be difficult for me to do -- I much prefer to jump in writing from the beginning -- but I resolve to attempt it.

I can see how it would work. And it would be pleasant to be writing a story and already know how it's going to end. Very pleasant!


[Author's note: Today (June 2, 2011) I just read a newsletter about this subject. It's "Short Stories Newsletter (June 1, 2011)" ]