LOST writing class # 17: Explosive, yet satisfying endings

LOST Writing Class #17: Explosive Endings

Doesn’t it feel good to know your story is almost over? That all the hours of agonized hand wringing and plotting and making your hero miserable will soon end? That those beautiful words “the end” is nearing?

You’ve brought your heroine to the darkest moment of her life, but now it’s time to wrap up those loose ends and give an ending that satisfies. How do you do that? Very carefully.
Go back to your beginning. How did you start? With an image? Dialogue? Description? Maybe you started with a bang. Some of the best endings are ones that mirror the beginning of that novel. Think of “Gone with the Wind”. Scarlett begins the novel learning that her great love is about to be married to another and vowing to get him back. How does the book end? By being abandoned by her true love and vowing to get him back.

Think about “Twilight”. It starts with her leaving her known life in Phoenix to begin an unknown one in Forks. It ends with her wanting to leave her known life as a teenager and discover an unknown one as a vampire.

Can you use an image or dialogue to mirror the beginning? Can you bring your story full circle and thus satisfy the reader? If your first paragraph sells the reader on your book, your last paragraph sells them on buying your next one. Yes, it’s a temptation to rush to get to those beautiful words “the end”, but take the time to find the right ending that will leave your reader with a sigh of contentment rather than a desire to throw the book across the room.

Maybe mirroring the beginning isn’t feasible. Maybe you need something more explosive and unpredictable. Something like a cliffhanger which is basically twisting what the reader (or viewer) expects to happen into a startling new direction. Think of LOST. How many times does the last image set you up for next week’s (or next season’s) episode? Remember in “Two for the Road” (season 2, episode 20) when Michael’s actions left us speechless? Or when we discovered that the storytelling of the series was changing in season 3’s finale “Through the Looking Glass” (episode 22)? Or in “The Incident” (season 5, episode 16) when the screen went white?
However you end your story, leave the reader wanting more without pulling their hair out in frustration. You want to satisfy them, not build up your ending then let them down.

Next week, we’ll start looking at literary techniques to apply to your novel. First up: theme.

LOST lesson tomorrow

Tonight's lesson is written, but I don't have access to it at the moment. I'll post it tomorrow afternoon.

LOST writing class resumes next Wednesday night!

Hi all!

I'm sorry that I haven't had any new posts in a while. I've returned from Denver and the land of Disney, but the recovery from surgery is taking longer than I expected. I can't wait to feel "normal", whatever that is. LOL

Next week, I'll return to the writing class and discuss explosive endings. So tune in!

Syn

LOST writing class on hiatus until October 14th!

I'll be taking some time off the next few weeks. I leave for Disney World in a few days then come back two days before my surgery. I promise to tell you how to end those wonderful stories you're writing as well as share things that I learned at the writing conference last week.

Until then, watch LOST dvds and find more examples of what we've been learning. There's nothing better (or more entertaining) than analyzing your favorite LOST episode until your loved ones start checking out local mental hospitals.

New LOST lesson posted later this week!

Because of lost time (LOL), I won't be able to post this week's lesson until later.

I'll be winging my way to Denver early tomorrow morning where I'm attending the annual American Christian Fiction Writers conference. Debbie Macomber (one of my faves) is the keynote speaker, and I'm also attending the Early Bird session taught by writing craft guru Donald Maass (check out his "Writing the Breakout Novel" for fantastic advice on taking your writing to the next level). There will be workshops galore, appointments with agents and editors, and the fellowship with other crazies, I mean writers, is invaluable. In the upcoming weeks, I'll post what I learned and where I still need to go.

Hang in there for another LOST lesson in the meantime.

LOST writing class #16: The Black Moment

All is lost. There’s no light at the end of the tunnel. And it truly is darkest before the dawn.

That’s what the Black Moment is all about. You bring your character to a time when he thinks that his goal is not only in sight, but he can brush his fingers against it then you TAKE IT AWAY. Yes, you love your hero, but you need to make it seem impossible for him to reach his goal.

This is a point of your story where your heroine needs to dig down deep and figure out if her goal is worth it. She needs to sift through her reasons for doing what she has and find the strength to keep going. Or if she finds her goal is not the right one for her, the strength to walk away from it.

Why would you do this? It’s all about the drama. Your reader has been on a roller coaster ride that you’ve created, but they need one last thrill before the grand finale. Give them a moment where they think there’s no possible way for a happy ending, and they will be even more satisfied when that’s what you give them. But don’t leave too much room between the black moment and the finale. Too much room gives the reader a chance to catch their breath too easily. You want them hanging on, not giving up.

How does LOST handle those black moments? Let’s take a look at another of my favorite Ben episodes, “The Man Behind the Curtain” (season 3, episode 20). Locke has demanded answers from Ben about the Island, so they travel to see Jacob who Ben says will explain everything. What is Ben’s goal in this episode? To control Locke and (potentially) get rid of him. What complications have we seen? Mikhail arrives giving Ben a perfectly good out, but Locke beats the Russian senseless and removes that excuse. Later, Ben’s own daughter gives his nemesis her gun (which means Ben’s plans for getting rid of Locke seem even more impossible). They finally get to the cabin where Ben is convinced that Locke will not only be very disappointed for not meeting Jacob but leave him with an opportunity it re-establish his control. So what happens? Locke hears “Jacob” and things go haywire in the cabin. Definitely NOT a part of Ben’s plan. This leaves him shaken and uncertain about what to do next. This is his black moment, the moment where he has no idea what to do or where to go (we learn later that he does come up with a plan and leads Locke to his “grave”). It takes him a little while but he is able to bounce back and come up with a plan to regain control and power over Locke. In fact, it’s the very next scene (again, not giving the viewer too much time to give up on the story).

Black moments are necessary. Not only for the plot of your story, but thematically it gives you the chance to highlight what the story is about. Use this as a means of pointing out why you’re telling the story. Make the hero’s struggle at this point where you can show the story’s purpose without being overhanded or melodramatic about it.

Next Wednesday, I’ll be flying to Denver for the annual ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) conference where I’ll be learning more about this wonderful craft of writing. But I’ll be posting about those grand finales and what makes an ending great.

LOST writing class #15: Act Three

You're approaching the end of the story. The end is in sight! Woo-hoo! Time to break out the good chocolate. After all, it's all a breeze from here, right?

The third act is about coming full circle with the characters and plot. You want to leave the reader satisfied, not whining that they can’t believe they wasted time and money on your story. Make sure that your ending is like the last fork of chocolate cake: satisfyingly sweet and wanting more.

The last act is one of the trickiest to write. And in my experience, also the fastest. There’s a big rush to get to the last words and type “the end” with a flourish. However, you don’t want to go so fast that you lose sight of what you’ve built up since page one. There’s a lot of loose ends that need to be tied neatly before you can close the curtain on the story. My best advice for doing this is to read through the entire manuscript up to this point. You’ve spent a lot of time on this story, but you may read it with fresh eyes and realize that the phone call the hero’s been waiting for still hasn’t rung. Or that the green eyes he fell in love with on the heroine have suddenly changed to blue. (Don’t laugh. Almost every writer has done this).

How does LOST handle the third act? Let’s take a look at season four’s episode “The Shape of Things to Come” (episode 9). Not only is it from Ben’s perspective, but it also sets us up for the rest of the season. I LOVE IT! Act two ends with the murder of Ben’s daughter Alex right in front of his eyes. Ben has been given a choice: give himself up or sacrifice his daughter. He foolishly believes that he’s in control of this situation and that no harm will come to his daughter. Therefore, he chooses to stay where he is and watches his daughter die. This choice informs the rest of the episode. Ben then calls the smoke monster to attack Keamy’s team while he and the rest of the Losties seek refuge in the jungle and get as far away from them as possible. On an interesting note, Ben’s flashforward also has a murder as the second plot point. In this case, we see Sayid at his wife’s funeral procession. He sees and confronts Ben thus setting up the third act where Sayid eventually becomes Ben’s personal hitman. What loose ends are tied up in the third act of this episode? We see Ben say a touching goodbye to his daughter. We learn that Ben knows how to contact the monster though he doesn’t know what it is. We also discover that Hurley knows where to find Jacob’s cabin which makes him valuable to Ben and Locke. And at the end, we learn about the rivalry between Ben and Charles Widmore: they’re both trying to find the island again before the other does. Not only does this episode stand alone, but it sets the viewers up for the rest of season four. How can you not love it?

The third act is also the point where your hero/heroine reaches the black moment, a point where all seems lost. We’ll be discussing that in detail next week, then I’ll be off to Denver for a writing conference and Disney World after that. Woo hoo!!!