And They Lived HEA--Real Fast
Here I am again, in the midst of revising my very first manuscript--that book of my heart that came in originally at 107,000+ (or was it 109?) words. *big sigh.* I did get it trimmed by a few thousand before sending it to a couple of contests and a requesting editor.
The fact that it won or finaled in some of those contests was due only to the fact the judges saw just the first couple of chapters. As for the requesting editor’s reaction--well, as fast as that manuscript came back to me in the dead of winter, flung on my door step by a freezing UPS driver? I always wondered just how far into my “masterpiece” he got. Probably into the third chapter, where I choked him with backstory.
But that’s another tale. LOL. Today I want to share my experience with my first ending. Deceptions revealed and forgiven. Love declared. Hero redeemed.
Dramatic. Heart-wrenching. Happy-tear laden.
And it all happened in a chapter. Well, two small ones, actually, but for all the angst and shocking turns of events, it should have been wa-a-a-y longer.
Now that I have two more books under my belt (cliché alert), I can see that problem so clearly, I can’t imagine what I was thinking five years ago when I finished it.
Like a slice of Sue’s cheesecake or a Harry and David chocolate truffle, endings should be consumed (or in our case, unfolded) incrementally, so that each point can be savored, each confrontation and revelation and reconciliation examined, reveled in. Not gobbled in a lump.
So now as I revise, I will cut some of those earlier scenes I thought at the time couldn’t possible be excised. I will save some characters I love and put them in another book. I will trim and tighten to provide space for a more leisurely denoument.
And I will give Roark and Alyss and new, extended ending so readers can enjoy the HEA as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Twice.
Has anyone else discovered the pitfalls of hasty endings?
3 comments:
Roarke - I love the name.
In a prior life, I was a trainer. When I finished training, I was done. D-O-N-E.
No summary, no easing into a q/a, just 'that's all.'
Luckily, I learned from that. And my writing style has evolved. Now, I say - I'll be done in a chapter - which turns into two - then three as I tie up loose ends I didn't realize I still had.
The End. :)
LOL Lynn. Those loose ends can be hard to capture. I can't wait to read your book when it's out. It's bound to be terrific.
Great post, Barb, and very good advice. When I was first writing this book, it was November 28 during NaNo, and I was so tired. I ended the book in a ridiculously simplistic chapter. Even as I was writing it I knew it was bad. I shall keep a bag of Lindor truffles by the desk just to remind me to take it slow for the rewrite. :)
Post a Comment