The sense of an ending
Over the weekend I finished reading the last of the Cut and Run m/m series, featuring FBI agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett. The series was begun by Abigail Roux and Madeline Urban, and continued (and concluded) by Roux when Urban stopped writing. I’ve read the series from the beginning, and although it had some weak spots along the way, it finished quite well, going out with a BANG! with Crash and Burn.
I hope, when the time comes, I can finish as well.
It’s a question that every series writer must consider – when do you finish? I was discussing that last week with a couple of people from my writing group. One of them is finishing his project, all of the scripts for a TV series, which he’s been writing for nine years. Another is just starting his. It made me consider where I wanted to end the Jamie Brodie series – and I think I know. (Don’t worry – it’s not for a while.)
But the time comes – it has to – when the story is told. Your characters have made it to wherever they were headed, and it’s time to put the thing to bed. Readers don’t always approve! People are still begging poor Josh Lanyon for more Adrien and Jake, when it’s clear to me that their story is finished. Sure, we can see snippets of their lives now in Josh’s Christmas codas, but in terms of the overall arc of the story – the relationship – they made it.
The last thing any author wants to do is this:
I’m going to do my best to stay off the waterskis.
