Peg Herring's Blog - Posts Tagged "endings"
What Is Mystery? Final Chapter
This week I focused on MHO of what makes a good mystery: believability, the right sleuth, etc. Today I'll finish with the end, that final wrapping-up that either leaves the reader satisfied and wanting the next book from the author or...else.
Golden Age mysteries tended to have a rather lengthy scene where the sleuth replayed the whole scenario, pointing out clues and often ending with a dramatic accusation: "And that's how I deduced that (bum-bum-bum-bahhhh) the butler did it!"
Possibly because television doesn't adapt well to that, we tend to end pretty close to the climax these days, the denouement brief and often spattered with pithy humor as the characters settle back into their normal routine.
It's hard to strike the right balance: too much explanation at the end or leave the reader unsure of what happened and why? I've read books by well-known, well-paid authors where there needed to be at least one more chapter; it felt like someone had taken an ax and chopped the story off. I've also read books where all the explanation in the world didn't make me believe that ending was probable, even possible.
Here's one writer's confession: I don't like writing the last chapter. Though I know there has to be a life-and-death struggle at some point, I don't like trying to capture it in words, and it isn't part of the attraction of mystery for me. When I watch movies or TV shows, I often leave the room once the killer's identity is revealed. I don't care for the final chase scene, the "book 'em, Dano" moment.
When I write, I make myself do it right, paying as much attention to the end as to the rest, but for me, the fun part is building up to it: planting clues, establishing character, following the sleuths' line of thought. I'll write that final chapter, and I'll do it as well as I can, but once we all know whodunit, I'd just as soon move on to the next novel.
Golden Age mysteries tended to have a rather lengthy scene where the sleuth replayed the whole scenario, pointing out clues and often ending with a dramatic accusation: "And that's how I deduced that (bum-bum-bum-bahhhh) the butler did it!"
Possibly because television doesn't adapt well to that, we tend to end pretty close to the climax these days, the denouement brief and often spattered with pithy humor as the characters settle back into their normal routine.
It's hard to strike the right balance: too much explanation at the end or leave the reader unsure of what happened and why? I've read books by well-known, well-paid authors where there needed to be at least one more chapter; it felt like someone had taken an ax and chopped the story off. I've also read books where all the explanation in the world didn't make me believe that ending was probable, even possible.
Here's one writer's confession: I don't like writing the last chapter. Though I know there has to be a life-and-death struggle at some point, I don't like trying to capture it in words, and it isn't part of the attraction of mystery for me. When I watch movies or TV shows, I often leave the room once the killer's identity is revealed. I don't care for the final chase scene, the "book 'em, Dano" moment.
When I write, I make myself do it right, paying as much attention to the end as to the rest, but for me, the fun part is building up to it: planting clues, establishing character, following the sleuths' line of thought. I'll write that final chapter, and I'll do it as well as I can, but once we all know whodunit, I'd just as soon move on to the next novel.
When You Get to the End
Often I leave the living room when that last commercial break before the end of a TV show comes, which has from time to time caused comment from others in my home. I don't care if I see the last ten minutes of a detective movie lots of times, either. And if I could, I'd let someone else write the last twenty pages of my books.
In most cases, writing the ending doesn't interest me as much as the build TO the end. Once I reveal whodunit, I don't care about the chase through the streets, the abandoned warehouse, or the Grand Coulee Dam. I don't really even care if the bad guy/girl lives or dies. For me, it's all about leading the reader to the point where together we figure out who and why. Once that's established, the chase and the arrest or whatever is just the icing on the cake, and icing is often very sugary and laid on too thick.
So when it comes to writing an ending, I sort of have to force myself. I know what readers expect, and of course I want everything to tie up neatly. But the running/ fighting/confessing part is hard for me. I have to remind myself that the story needs closure, otherwise I might simply do the outdated "I've gathered you all here to explain that there is a murderer amongst you" scene and skip the chase through the dark woods at midnight.
In most cases, writing the ending doesn't interest me as much as the build TO the end. Once I reveal whodunit, I don't care about the chase through the streets, the abandoned warehouse, or the Grand Coulee Dam. I don't really even care if the bad guy/girl lives or dies. For me, it's all about leading the reader to the point where together we figure out who and why. Once that's established, the chase and the arrest or whatever is just the icing on the cake, and icing is often very sugary and laid on too thick.
So when it comes to writing an ending, I sort of have to force myself. I know what readers expect, and of course I want everything to tie up neatly. But the running/ fighting/confessing part is hard for me. I have to remind myself that the story needs closure, otherwise I might simply do the outdated "I've gathered you all here to explain that there is a murderer amongst you" scene and skip the chase through the dark woods at midnight.
Why Do You Read?
I finished a book last night that was one of those "I can't wait to find out what happens" stories. The author had me caring desperately for the characters, hoping against hope that they could defeat the almost certain doom that swept toward them. I read and read and read...and then they died.
Greek tragedy and ANNA KARENINA aside, that's not what I read for.
I read to be entertained, at least when I read genre fiction. I contend that an "entertaining" author who gives the reader false hopes then zaps his characters betrays an unwritten contract between provider and client. Yup, you surprised me. Good for you, I guess. But getting to know a person intimately, coming to believe that he isn't really such a bad guy, and then watching him get shot by the cops and bleed out on the floor is not my idea of entertainment.
When I write, if I create a character readers like and root for, that character is going to triumph somehow. Not trying to give anything away. I'm just sayin'.
Greek tragedy and ANNA KARENINA aside, that's not what I read for.
I read to be entertained, at least when I read genre fiction. I contend that an "entertaining" author who gives the reader false hopes then zaps his characters betrays an unwritten contract between provider and client. Yup, you surprised me. Good for you, I guess. But getting to know a person intimately, coming to believe that he isn't really such a bad guy, and then watching him get shot by the cops and bleed out on the floor is not my idea of entertainment.
When I write, if I create a character readers like and root for, that character is going to triumph somehow. Not trying to give anything away. I'm just sayin'.
