The Triumphant Return

Guess whose back with a brand new track (er, blog post)?

... Well, no one, if my Music History teacher and other professors had anything to say about it. They have been piling on the homework, and I have been practicing like the devil. I have been writing, since I figured you guys would rather have me spouting out more smut and fluff and action scenes than keeping up-to-date on my blog, but I've decided to give a quick update and then get to work on posting some writing tips and tricks.

Aside from my fanfiction obsession (Magnetic Resistance is almost done!), my new project, which I have temporarily dubbed 'The Senator's Daughter', is coming along nicely at about 15,000 words. I have 6,000 more words to go of The Witch's Daughter, but I'm seriously drained for that novel, and I'm trying my best to make the last 6,000 words as high-quality as the first 70,000 or so. I don't want to disappoint and rush to finish just so that novel is off my plate. The ending is the most important part of any work.

Yes, there have been arguments made for the beginnings of novels being the most important. If you don't have a good beginning, why would you bother reading to the end in the first place? But I still say that the ending of a novel is far more important, because that is the last, powerful punch that finishes off your grand adventure and (hopefully) leaves the reader with questions, an emotional reaction, or something. Stories with a great beginning and a bad ending leave the reader feeling cheated and disappointment, while stories with a so-so beginning and a slamming ending leave the reader feeling pleasantly surprised.

Of course, if you can have a good beginning and an equally good ending, that is even better. A double-attack from both sides, if you will. And if you can get a good middle thread connecting the two, then you're in the money. Or, well, you'll make people feel very, very happy while cutting out coupons from newspapers, unless you are supported by your parents/spouse (*coughcough*) or your name is Stephen King or JK Rowling.

In order to write a good ending, I tend to follow the Storyteller's Cardinal Rule: Always Have A Happy Ending (Unless A Sad, Poignant Ending Is Appropriate). This seems like common sense, but you would be surprised how many people kill off their characters or ruin everything at the end of a novel for no good reason. Unless you can lay out a sound argument for doing so, let them ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. Your audience will appreciate it and they might decide not to come after you with torches and pitchforks.

Another tip - once the climax has happened (the climax of the action, not the sexual climaxes, of which there are many in my novels), wrap it up quickly. You need to get out of there pretty fast in order to keep the reader's interest. It's nice to add questions at the end that can continue to germinate in the audience's minds, but don't leave too many untied threads or you will leave the reader feeling unsatisfied. It is a balancing act, like many other writing tools.

Anyway, I have to close my laptop because my professor just walked in. I'll update later. Music Girl, Away!