Ok so I'm about 11 chapters into my wip and I don't know what the ending is going to be. I mean I have a rough idea/ideas but nothing set in stone. So I thought maybe I could tell you my ideas and maybe you can point me in the right direction. Its really bothering me that I don't know the ending.
Long story very short my book is about this girl from another world who has to get rid of this evil force and to kill him she must sacrifice herself OR after she kills him she "vanishes" bc her purpose was fulfilled. This is also partly a love story.
So here are my ending ideas
Ending 1. Possession: the evil force takes over her body in the final battle and in order to kill him she must kill herself. Don't know what would happen after that though.
Ending 2. Astral projection (out of body experience): after she kills the evil one her body dies but her spirit lives on (not really a ghost) and again I'm not sure what would happen next
Ending 3. Reincarnation: after she kills the evil thing she is reincarnated into another person or (this might be real stupid) she is reincarnated into an object that her lover sees or uses daily. Like maybe his sword or a tree he always walks by.
Ending 4: the prophecy was read wrong and she won't really lose her life she will just lose the things that make life worth living.
Ending 5: after she defeats the evil one she is magically thrown back to her own world
Do you think I should have her have to kill herself or should I have her "vanish" after she defeats the evil one? Which idea did you like best? If any. I'm open to combining ideas too.
I really don't want to kill off my character and I don't want to separate her and her lover. So if I turn her into a "spirit" or a tree I'd have to some how bring her back...I guess.
Comments?
Thanks for reading this long post.
Stan | December 31, 2011 - 10:10
I'd see not knowing the ending as a plus. I'm a couple of chapters from the end of my novel, and I still don't know how it's going to end - which is part of the fun and the challenge. I just think 'I'll know when I get there.' It's the same with everything I write - short fiction, scripts. If I know the ending too far in advance, it tends to make me veer the narrative towards it, and I like to leave things open to, erm, a bit of creative digression!
Sorry... this doesn't really help you, I know. The only other thing I'd strongly suggest is.... put the whole thing aside for a while, forget it if you can, do something else... a few weeks, maybe a few months. Then, when you come back to it, re-read what you've done. The insights from that - looking at things with a fresh eye - might give you just the clue you need to know how to wrap things up right.
One other thing. I'd never tell you which ending to choose. I want you, as the storyteller, to give me the ending that feels right for you. As Stephen King says 'If I can surprise myself in the telling, then I'm bound to surprise the reader - which is what I set out to do.'
shep5377 | December 31, 2011 - 10:11
Is this your YA work? If so I would suggest having someone kill themselves wouldn't be appropriate (sacrificing themselves is different of course).
I think at 11 chapters in though you have so much yet to happen that you should just keep writing and see what happens.
Shep
well-wisher | January 1, 2012 - 02:20
Some suggestions for a happy ending:
she puts the 'evil force' into something else and destroys it.
she takes something that is poisonous to the evil force but not to her.
she meets someone who devours 'evil forces'
she enters a place where the 'evil force' cannot exist
she unites with friends (or a lover) and their combined will is too strong for the evil force
the evil force is lured out of her by something attractive to it (which turns out to be a trap)
the evil force meets its polar opposite and, like matter and anti-matter, they destroy each other
she lets another force, a positive force, enter her and it pushes the negative force out
she's only bluffing about killing herself but the evil force doesn't know that and leaves her body
in order to save itself
there is a sickness that can destroy the evil force
and she infects herself with it
she creates an illusion that lures the evil force out of her and into a trap
rather than dying she just goes to sleep for a long time and the force, which doesn't want to sleep, has to find another body
she lures the evil force into a part of her body and then cuts off that body part
she enters a cocoon and goes through a metamorphosis
that is deadly to the evil force
she joins with her lover/friends and becomes a new person within which the evil force cannot exist