- by Tara Maya
Ending – Twist or Plunge
The End.
I always type those words at the end of my first draft. (Sometimes, if I’m trying to be sophisticated, I type “Fin” instead.) Fins are considered fishy these days, but I still like the taste of them.
There’s a lot to say about endings, and Natalie the Ninja has some good advice on writing endings, especially for those who are nearing the completion of a manuscript right now.
My concern at the moment is a little different. My Secret Novel is not yet begun, never mind near complete. As I’ve mentioned before, I seldom begin a book without knowing how things will end. So, in a sense, this post is actually the counterpart of my discussion of beginnings.
Just as beginnings can be marathons or relays, so endings can be likened to the final run on a roller coaster: the Plunge or the Twist.
The plot of a book is like a roller coaster, full of of ups and downs, twists and curves. At the climax of the ride, you have to decide — how will the ride end? Some roller coasters climb up a big hill. As your car rachets higher and higher on the track, you know it’s going to have to go back down in one huge plunge which will have you screaming your head off.
Or maybe not. Some rides don’t end with one big plunge, but with a final gravity-defying twist which takes you by surprise.
Now, all books, if they are any good at all, have some twists at the end, otherwise they would be thoroughly predictable. But this doesn’t make them Twist Ending books. Take Lord of the Rings. There’s a slight twist at the end involving Frodo and the Golum, but you don’t find out that Sam is actually Sauron.
Compare with the The Life of Pi or with Ender’s Game where at the end, you realize you have been reading a different book than you thought. All through the story you’ve seen things in a certain light, perhaps because the protagonist has seen things this way, but now you realize the protagonist either missed or withheld vital information. The revelation transforms your view of everything which went before.
The Empire Strikes Back ended with a twist. (It’s become cliche now, but at the time, the boy who seeks to avenge his father but finds his enemy is his father was a marvelous twist.) Return of the Jedi ends with a plunge.
I do already know how my Secret Novel needs to end, and it isn’t much of a plunge. The tension rises a bit, perhaps, toward the end, but is it sufficient for a satisfying ride? I’m not sure.
The alternative to a scream-worthy plunge is to throw in a extremely clever twist, so I’m considering that option. Problem — I have no clue what the twist will be. And this is why I can’t start a book before I know the ending, and what kind of ride the book will be.
I have a vague idea involving a postcard.
