Are Multiple Endings Okay?

[latepaul]

Originally Posted by crich70

I do agree that it can depend on many things as to how much detail is needed. I mean if John is shown to be angry and next thing you know the police come calling because 'she' has been found dead then it would be important.

But again that's not an ending.

In truth I just used that example to point out that cutting things to bare details can lose a lot of information. I think it can also jar the reader out of the story prematurely (even if near the end). I also think that it is possible to cut a story down to bare facts so much that it is almost unreadable. Traditionally that meant it would most likely be rejected by a publishing house but now with Amazon and Smashwords (to name just two places) anyone can publish anything without stopping to have someone look it over to see if the tale is at its best.

I'm willing to bet that more books are/were rejected for over-writing than for being too bare. Certainly that was true in the writing groups I used to participate in.

Some people over do showing granted, but some also overdo just telling, and as has been noted here in this thread there needs to be a balance. In some stories that may mean a longer ending than in another story.

Again, how long it is has nothing to do with whether it's show or tell.

I don't know about others here at MR but when I pick up a fiction book I do so to be entertained and having too rapid fire a closing can feel like I'm a guest at the author's dinner table and am being quickly rushed out the door for some reason after the meal.

I've had that experience but I've had the opposite experience more often.

[Steven Lake]

Originally Posted by crich70

I don't know about others here at MR but when I pick up a fiction book I do so to be entertained and having too rapid fire a closing can feel like I'm a guest at the author's dinner table and am being quickly rushed out the door for some reason after the meal.

I agree. I like good, clean endings rather than rushed ones. That's why I'll sometimes overwrite a scene just to give it a clean exit. Sure, I could have taken the shorter way out, but sometimes that feels too cheap and a few extra sentences actually add to it making it better. Now, when you start getting into extra paragraphs, then you're just flogging it for word count. But if it needs a little bit of extra content to bring it down for a much gentler, and more well rounded exit, then I see no problem with that.

Originally Posted by gmw

The advice/suggestion is necessarily generic when not privy to the detail. Only you can know what is critical to have in your wrap up, but my last paragraph above above, in response to crich, still stands as - I think - good advice; something to aim for. Your priority must be the conclusion of the series, any set up for a new series must either fit in well, or be left as a problem for the new series.

Yeah, the setup isn't huge. It's just carefully positioning certain characters so that things can get moving quickly out of the gate in series two. But yeah, I plan to keep them germane to the original story while at the same time putting things in place for the next series without getting too out of line. Of course, I'm only halfway through my current series, so what I'm planning for that time period may end up changing dramatically depending on how the rest of this series unfolds. Even so I'm planning ahead on the assumption that it will end as I originally envisioned it. And if not, then I'll make the requisite adjustments needed to get it where it needs to be.

[BookCat]

Like many others, when I read the title I thought you were going to write alternate endings. When I was about 15, I read The French Lieutenant's Woman, which I now only vaguely remember, but I'm certain that this had two "take your pick" endings, which I found frustrating. It broke the illusion that the book was in some way real and John Fowles knew the characters.

But I see that you don't mean that. I see nothing wrong with your intentions, personally I hate dangling plot lines and wondering "what happened to so and so?" as happens in so many soap dramas.
On the other hand, I'm not so sure about your epilogue idea. About 20 years ago I read Anna Karenina; after the main action had concluded there was about 50 pages consisting of several men sitting round pontificating about politics, philosophy and religion. I was SO BORING!

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by BookCat

Like many others, when I read the title I thought you were going to write alternate endings. When I was about 15, I read The French Lieutenant's Woman, which I now only vaguely remember, but I'm certain that this had two "take your pick" endings, which I found frustrating. It broke the illusion that the book was in some way real and John Fowles knew the characters.

But I see that you don't mean that. I see nothing wrong with your intentions, personally I hate dangling plot lines and wondering "what happened to so and so?" as happens in so many soap dramas.
On the other hand, I'm not so sure about your epilogue idea. About 20 years ago I read Anna Karenina; after the main action had concluded there was about 50 pages consisting of several men sitting round pontificating about politics, philosophy and religion. I was SO BORING!

Are you really a boring person?

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Are you really a boring person?

I think they dropped their tea.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I think they dropped their tea.

I hate golf.

[Steven Lake]

HAHAHAHA! Typo for the win!

[BookCat]

I hope I'm not boring!
Having problems with my laptop keyboard, bought a very cheap temporary replacement which is sitting on top of my laptop; it's weird to type on.

Must take Lenny (my Lenovo Thinkpad) to my nice computer doctor! Have also ordered a mechanical keyboard from Amazon as my Christmas pressie to me!