11 Comments

I love Jayne Anne Phillips’s definition of an ending. It can be easy to let yourself fall into a surprise ending. I've found poetry, as you mentioned, to be a great help in writing fiction, especially short stories. I think many writers overlook poetry.

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Thanks, Corey! I agree: Jayne Anne Phillips' notion of an ending is perfect for my tastes. I think of it with each ending.

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Yes, I'll be keeping it in mind later today when I'm reworking an ending.

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Hey Grant, some valuable insights here. Given the topic, I feel justified in plugging a Substack post I did on trying to get into the, er, zone of writing, to which you might relate. Anyway, keep it up.

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Thanks, Chris. I'll check it out. I've been meaning to write you to tell you how much I've been enjoying your newsletter, especially the one on the history of rap. It's really great to read you again, so I look forward to more.

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In my niche of literary interests, it seems like beginnings get more attention and get immortalized much more often than endings. This is a good reflection on the tricky difficulty of endings. It makes me want to revisit how some of my favorite novels concluded.

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You're right: it's so interesting how beginnings are more likely to be immortalized. They certainly get more attention in most craft books. Perhaps it's easier to describe what makes for a good beginning, and endings are more varied and open.

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It would be interesting to go to the Flaubert research center in Paris, where many of his manuscripts are kept, and see how his endings in draft versions of his works evolved as he worked and reworked them.

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That would be so interesting. We lose the evidence of all of the tinkering that goes into endings these days with technology. I can't tell you how many tweaks and rejiggerings and cuts and pastes I do with almost every ending.

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I like this idea: The end of things, the real end, is never a neat turn of the screw.

I write memoir in essays, and I have to negotiate endings every 3 or 4,000 word or so. And I always have trouble. My challenge is to conclude so that the reader understands but without sentimentality, preachiness, or over explaining.

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Your last sentence sums up the challenge perfectly. It's such a tough balance to strike, but worth all of the extra work that goes into it.

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