All good things must come to an end. As I've written (what I hope to be) my final book for this year (five in total for 2021), one thing weighs heavily on me. Well, two if you count the humble bragging.

The end.

In my final book "The Hunchback's Perfect Family," I literally wrote a heavy emotion driven ending. It spanned 4 chapters bringing it from 41 to 45. It tied up loose ends, nipped some things in the bud, and formed a full resolution.

And it had to die.

Someone said to me once that agents believe an author's biggest weakness is not 'knowing when to start or knowing when to stop' a story. I believe that's true. More than once, I've read some VERY rough intros (written some as well), only to be part way through the dreaded first chapter and things pick up. All the 'build up' or 'atmosphere' which I eventually forgot anyway, was the stepping stone to get to the start of the story.

The character 'waking up' putting on their clothes, meeting friends, getting to school, and getting shot...? Was that 'waking up' really the start? I'd argue that getting to school and getting shot is basically all I needed from that intro. I did not need to know what color sneakers she had on or what she had for breakfast. I didn't even need to meet her 10 friends (unless one of them shot her). Get me to school and get me shot. There. We've started.

Equally, the same can be said for the ending. It's got a function. And although I'll lament each and every word I wrote that'll never see the light of day (roughly 15k but hey, who's counting? TT__TT ), it was the best choice for the pacing and tone. Going on longer might be fun on my end, but a story isn't just random bits. It's a pitch, a hit, and a catch.

So write that extra 15k (it helped me figure out what I wanted to do in my last paragraph) but don't be afraid to let it fall by the wayside, too.