It has been twelve years since I penned this post, twelve years in which I completed and published all three volumes of the Awen trilogy, plus two prequels, The Druids of Marduk, Parts I & II.
During those years, I agonized over much, not the least of which was the endings of each book. Where to stop. Where to begin the next book in the series. How not to kill the dog. How to write a cliffhanger without making readers too angry. You know, that sort of thing.
So, if you hate your manuscript or are struggling with an ending, take heart. You’re in the right place.
In Search of The End, Crane Style
Written October 19, 2013
“It’s official. I now hate my book. Well, manuscript, it’s still far from being a ‘book.’ I keep trying to stitch it together, get the ending ready for my Alpha reader. But I’m stuck in the middle of ICKville.
What to do, what to do?
Suck it up and stick it out in ICKtown?
Or shuffle this one to the side, along with the two other manuscripts similarly abandoned?
I am better at the second. It is my Modus Operandi up until now.
But maybe this aversion to seeing projects through to The End has nothing to do with the venture, and everything to do with my Relationship to Endings—and not being very good at goodbyes (though I have a lot of experience in that regard).
But wait. AH-HA! As a reader, I dislike—have always disliked—reaching “THE END.” Why?
Because it signals the story is over, and if it’s a good one, I don’t want it to be. Then, more times than not, it’s either anticlimactic or leaves too much unsaid. For instance, am I the only one who dislikes the way The Lord of the Rings trilogy ended? Or Gone With The Wind (until someone else wrapped it up with Scarlett)? Or the Aragorn series? Every Romance in print? And don’t get me started on Animal Farm.
How often are Endings really and truly satisfying?
I’m pondering giving up Peace Makers [the original name of the Awen trilogy] for a short story. Or novella. Picking a currently hot (to me) topic and writing free-style, with no edits, for NaNoWriMo, which rolls around again in less than two weeks. But something, anything to get back on the writing wagon.”
I wrote this several days ago. Since then, one after another, the signs have pointed me back to Peace Makers. The most significant just glided past me on an eight-foot expanse of wings, its rattling cry reaching me first. The pale gray envoy settled gracefully on a pine bough at the edge of my backyard, an enormous clearing that defines the outer limits of downtown.
Quiet and still, I sat, head cocked for a glimpse beyond the bird feeder hanging in the crabapple tree. And, thunderstruck, I welcomed a Great Blue Heron.
Even near water, Corr’s visit would be momentous. But in town? One is forced to pay attention. Especially one penning a trilogy involving Druids, druid magic, and Corr. That’s the druid name for the crane/heron who plays an integral role in Book Two.
A sign can’t get any grander than this. Or more obvious.
So, Peace Makers it is. And, as I refuse to dwell in the Land of ICK, I’m creating an Option Three in which I overcome my Inner Glass Ceiling and soar with Crane and Eagle, Raven and Wren.
Now, to go inside myself, ask questions, listen to answers, then write. Write as if my life depended on The End.
~ That Rebel, Olivia/O. J.
From my heart to yours, Olivia/O. J.❤️
P.S. If you enjoy my weekly essays from the heart, you might also enjoy my fiction. I’ve linked previews to both of my serialized works below. The first is Awen Rising, the first book in the completed Awen Trilogy. The second is a spin-off thriller I am currently writing, Crossed, Cursed, & Nearly Dead.
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Wow, what an amazing intervention by one of your characters! Truly a sign. Endings are rediculously hard. I think my first book suffers for the ending. I rewrote it dozens of times and even changed the antagonist mutliple times to try to get it right. My next book I think I landed the ending but time will tell going forward. I can't beleive some writers are lucky enough to start with their ending.