Thursday, October 15, 2009

Sweet Undertones with a Nutty Finish

Thank you, Tere, for inspiring this post with your comment yesterday. :)

First off, the point of this post is not just to tell you a cutesy story about my daughter. Number one, I don’t think it’s cutesy so much as hilarious, and two, this does relate to writing. Sort of. :)

My youngest is a very unique individual. She often lives in a world of her own making, and some of the things that come out of her mouth have me really wondering what is going on her head. A lot of times, though, she has me rolling on the floor, literally. She’s given me quite a bit of writing material for my family blog.

My favorite story, ever, is from when she was four years old. She stayed home with her dad while I took the older two to the bus stop. She was curled up next to him in bed, when the phone—at the opposite corner of the bed—rang. My husband got up and crawled across the bed to answer it.

“I see your nuts, Daddy,” a tiny voice said behind him.

As you can imagine, my husband was horrified. I was, when he told me.

What if this was the end of the story? What would you think of me? Boo! What is she teaching her children? My kids are very sheltered, I assure you. And that's not the end.

This is how the story could have ended:

My husband, in the throws of what threatened to be a very serious heart attack, turned around and said, “What did you say?”

Eyes wide, terrified by her father’s tone, she immediately burst into tears and didn’t stop crying until Mom got home.

All that build up, and then she just cried? How lame is that?

Now, as emotional as she is, this ending is not that unlikely. Fortunately, she was in a good mood that morning and this is not how it ended.

Here’s the whole story with the real ending:

When my youngest was four years old, she stayed home with her dad while I took the older two to the bus stop. She was curled up next to him in bed, when the phone—at the opposite corner of the bed—rang. My husband got up and crawled across the bed to answer it.

“I see your nuts, Daddy,” a tiny voice said behind him.

In the throws of what threatened to be a very serious heart attack, he turned around and said, “What did you say?”

She pointed to a can of cashews on the nightstand. “I see your nuts, Daddy.”

Now, isn’t the second ending SO. MUCH. BETTER? I was laughing about that one for weeks.

Okay, so the point is, the ending can make or break a story. It doesn’t matter how good the rest of the story is, if the ending falls flat, you’re only going to upset or annoy your reader. The first ending probably left you feeling let down. Maybe even hoping I never bore with another anecdote about my children again. I don’t know. Maybe the real ending had the same result, but let’s pretend for the sake of this post, that it didn’t. ;)

So, what do you think? What is essential to a good ending? Anything that drives you crazy in an ending and makes you want to throw the book across the room?

15 comments:

  1. now you've got me laughing. i can see that happening in my house with my innocent 8-year old.

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  2. That story cracks me up! You are such a nut. ;)

    I always say I'd never run out of things to blog about if I had kids, cause they're always doing adorable things. Of course, if I did have kids, I'd probably be too exhausted to put together a complete sentence, lol.

    Seriously, though, I've got to give it up for all the writers out there who are Mommies, because you ladies really work hard. Cheers!

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  3. ROFL, I LOVE IT.. and you too YOU'RE AWESOME!

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  4. AHAHAHA! Your poor husband :)!

    Great illustration about endings! It's so true. I've read a lot of really amazing books that have let me down in the end because they feel rushed or tacked on. I want the ending to build slowly, reach its apex (eeeek!), and then wind down, resolving in some satisfying manner.

    A cliffhanger is okay with me if it's a book in a series, but no half-assed endings, please, where we're not sure what the point of reading the book was.

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  5. Great story and great job in writing it. Gotta love kids and writers who know what to do with the material. Still laughing.

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  6. In the first endings, it was like there was no punch line. I agree, endings are really important!

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  7. In general, cliffhanger endings make me angry. In specific, THAT ending made me snarf Dr. Pepper out my nose. :)

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  8. So funny! From the mouths of babes. I hate endings that leave unanswered questions.

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  9. LOL! I hate endings that don't resolve the questions that come up during the course of the story. In life things may remain unresolved, in books I want resolution!

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  10. Shelli: Glad you enjoyed it. :)

    Michelle: Aren't kids great?

    Tere: Thanks! Some of us are really good at faking it. :) I've found that the less adorable things are the funniest. Like my daughter screaming that I was a "stupid fliggin-floggin" when I put her in time-out. Sometimes, it's seriously hard to punish her with a straight face. :)

    Tami: Thanks! You too!

    Becca: Good point, but the cliffhangers still make me nuts, even if there is another book coming. I need at least some closure. I know this was a major issue for mine, but I think I fixed it, thanks to my fabulous critters. :)

    Tricia: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. :)

    MC: They make all the difference. :)

    Carrie: Cliffhanger's tend to make me angry too. If there's a sequel, I'm usually okay as long as something big is wrapped up, but the one's that stop in the middle of everything make me crazy! Dr. Pepper out the the nose? That's a good thing, right? ;)

    Susan: Thanks! And I agree. If there isn't a sequel, all questions should be answered.

    Natalie: Me too! I always feel ripped off when there's no resolution.

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  11. I've read this story, and it's great. I do think the ending is important. You spend all this time reading, and the ending should live up to the rest of the book.

    I want to be surprised.

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  12. Sometimes authors rush their endings and that drives me nuts (nuts, get it?).

    My favorite ending is the end of the HARRY POTTER series. Perfection!

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  13. *grin*
    Kids are the best! You're absolutely right. So many people tend to focus on the beginning and the hook of the story, but the ending is just as (if not more) important. :D

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  14. Elana: I like to be surprised too. :)

    Anita: Rushed endings are frustrating. It's difficult to find that perfect balance--not too quick, but not dragging it out too much.

    Danyelle: I think the true test of a book is whether someone wants to pick it up and read it a second time. If the ending is bad, that's not going to happen.

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