From the beginning, we’ve always said that stories go like this: Beginning, middle, end. It works well. We like that sense of cause and effect, of one thing leading to another, and the satisfying conclusion to reward us for our attention.
One thing writers need to grasp is that this “satisfying ending” stuff is part of the trick of storytelling. After all, we’re cherry picking the facts and events from a huge timeline and only telling what’s absolutely necessary for the story to work. And that means we get out when the story we’re telling is over.
The truth is, the story is never over. And the writing of the story is never over. Re-writes, notes, new ideas, growth of every kind effects our stories. We’ve all heard of bestselling authors marking up copies of their own published books as if they were galleys. The story is never complete. And neither are we. Even if this one goes, gets sold, gets made, becomes a huge hit, wins all the awards and brings all the wonderful things success can bring, there’s still the next story. And the next. And the next.
Completion is an illusion. Stop waiting for that feeling of being done. Because in my mind “being done” seems to fit nicely along being depressed -.waking up and feeling no compulsion to do anything because you’re done. Don’t hope for less work, fewer challenges, and the end of your troubles. Work for more brains, better systems, and more kick ass stories to tell.