Oh fiddlesticks!

[Harryasaboy]

I've been staring at this story for almost 3 weeks now and I just can't come up with a decent ending. I'm tempted to have a T-Rex bust through a wall and eat everyone, story over. It's frustrating but I guess I'll just set it aside and work on something else.

 

[SamScribble]

I've been staring at this story for almost 3 weeks now and I just can't come up with a decent ending. I'm tempted to have a T-Rex bust through a wall and eat everyone, story over. It's frustrating but I guess I'll just set it aside and work on something else.

Three weeks!? Stop being a cry baby. I have a story that I've been trying to finish for at least three years!

(But good luck anyway. )

 

[NotWise]

Three weeks!? Stop being a cry baby. I have a story that I've been trying to finish for at least three years!

(But good luck anyway. )

As near as I can tell, finishing a story is one of those things that blocks a lot of us. Aside from a sudden revelation about how it might end, I see two alternatives:

1) It doesn't end. Go on to the next chapter.

2) Back up. Rewrite the story from some earlier point so that it will end. That will probably involve removing elements of the story that you like.

Either of those probably requires that you rethink what you've already done.

(Edit: I actually meant to kill this comment after I wrote it, then pushed the wrong button. Oh well. It is what it is)

 

[Zeb_Carter]

T-Rex is a lot better than zombies.

By the way, I have at least a dozen stories I started, got to the middle and the characters changed the premise of the story so i have no ending...yet.

 

[Handley_Page]

Three weeks!? Stop being a cry baby. I have a story that I've been trying to finish for at least three years!

(But good luck anyway. )

You're not alone. . . .

 

[Nezhul]

I've never had problems with finishing a story myself. What I often DO get problem with is connecting two plot points. Like, I have written what happened just now, I have a clear idea what should happen to the characters in about two weeks, but there's some plot and character development and building up to be done in-between, and I often get stuck at how to write it in an interesting way.

I personally always have 6-7 ongoing stories in my head. If I get stuck with one, I leave it be. Sometimes for months or years. And then I'll watch a movie or read a book, or simply have some idea that will let me to continue in the way that makes me satisfied.

 

[Hypoxia]

Pick up a coffee-table book or cartoon collection or other illustrated volume. Leaf through it and see each picture or cartoon as possibly the final image in your story. Your main character riding off into the sunset, or watching a film with someone riding into the sunset (as a metaphor), etc. I use photojournalism books and old albums of New Yorker and Playboy cartoons for inspiration. If I'm too lazy to open one of those, I can browse the WTF PICS & GIFS in the Playground and GB here. Almost any could serve as a story ending.

 

[Blind_Justice]

Don't try to go at it all alone. Talk with someone about the story. One of two things might happen:

a) The person you're talking two has an idea you havrn't even thought of or

b) your retelling of the plot pieces might give you an idea how to deal with your obstacle.

Beta readers are useful. It won't mean you'll be writing by comittee. The final decision is and should always be yours. I've found that an outside view can greatly unclog the creative pathways.

 

[Seanathon]

I've been staring at this story for almost 3 weeks now and I just can't come up with a decent ending. I'm tempted to have a T-Rex bust through a wall and eat everyone, story over. It's frustrating but I guess I'll just set it aside and work on something else.

Writer's block? That sounds more like a plot bunny! Perfect for SF/Fantasy or maybe non-human if the T-Rex is actually a shapeshifter who is smashing through the wall in a desperate hunt for his long-lost love (who can also shift - usually into a sexy Triceratops)!

 

[49greg]

I've been staring at this story for almost 3 weeks now and I just can't come up with a decent ending. I'm tempted to have a T-Rex bust through a wall and eat everyone, story over. It's frustrating but I guess I'll just set it aside and work on something else.

I like the idea of a T-Rex coming through the wall. I might change it to a Mack Truck on one of the many I've got no ending for.

On the other hand, I've been trying to flesh out the outline for a winter holiday story I've got, but all I can think about is some crazy thing that stays in my head and won't get out. It starts with a Mack truck T-Boning a car. Maybe I should change that Mack to a T-Rex. If it eats everybody then that story is dead and I can go on to my winter holiday story.

My brain has no discipline.

 

[TxRad]

I like the idea of a T-Rex coming through the wall. I might change it to a Mack Truck on one of the many I've got no ending for.

On the other hand, I've been trying to flesh out the outline for a winter holiday story I've got, but all I can think about is some crazy thing that stays in my head and won't get out. It starts with a Mack truck T-Boning a car. Maybe I should change that Mack to a T-Rex. If it eats everybody then that story is dead and I can go on to my winter holiday story.

My brain has no discipline.

Killing off everyone as an ending works but... The readers scream bloody murder. I've tried it.

 

[sr71plt]

Killing off everyone as an ending works but... The readers scream bloody murder. I've tried it.

You might as well put it in the Romance category then.

 

[Hypoxia]

You might as well put it in the Romance category then.

TB used to be a nice romantic death. Oh, those consumptives! And there's the vampire linkage:

Before the Industrial Revolution, folklore often associated tuberculosis with vampires. When one member of a family died from it, the other infected members would lose their health slowly. People believed this was caused by the original person with TB draining the life from the other family members.

Yes, quite classically romantic, and yet so au courant. Send in the vamps.

 

[Haulover]

Know the ending before you start.

The end