When do you know a story is finished?

[Djmac1031]

So I'm writing a brand new story, and I'm really debating on where it's going.

At this point, it could be either,

A: an independent short story with a vague ending. Or,

B: the first chapter in a longer tale.

If I wanna go with A, I might need to tweak the ending a bit, make it more satisfying.


If I wanna go with B, then I need to decide a true End Game for it; where it goes next and ultimately where it finishes.

And I don't really have the material in mind for B. Yet.

Do I sit on it? See what, if anything, comes to me?

Or do I tidy it up and call it good?

Thinking out loud here more than asking for "definitive" advice.

Getting others feedback on how they handle these situations helps.

 

[SamScribble]

So I'm writing a brand new story, and I'm really debating on where it's going.

At this point, it could be either,

A: an independent short story with a vague ending. Or,

B: the first chapter in a longer tale.

If I wanna go with A, I might need to tweak the ending a bit, make it more satisfying.


If I wanna go with B, then I need to decide a true End Game for it; where it goes next and ultimately where it finishes.

And I don't really have the material in mind for B. Yet.

Do I sit on it? See what, if anything, comes to me?

Or do I tidy it up and call it good?

Thinking out loud here more than asking for "definitive" advice.

Getting others feedback on how they handle these situations helps.

Unless I am writing a book, I tend to write classic short stories. These are tales with a limited number of characters, told in no more that about 4.000 words. ‘The end’ of such a story tends to suggest itself. When it happens, you will recognise it. However, I find that a lot of Lit readers like their endings tied up with ribbons. This, unfortunately, is not a service that I offer.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Personally, I wouldn’t take it into a series (by whatever label) unless you have a fairly good idea of where you’re headed. Sequels are a different matter.

Good luck.

 

[Bubo_bubo]

With the heat death of the universe.

 

[Bubo_bubo]

But otherwise, when there is nothing more left to tell.

 

[Djmac1031]

Unless I am writing a book, I tend to write classic short stories. These are tales with a limited number of characters, told in no more that about 4.000 words. ‘The end’ of such a story tends to suggest itself. When it happens, you will recognise it. However, I find that a lot of Lit readers like their endings tied up with ribbons. This, unfortunately, is not a service that I offer.

My stories tend to be short as well. My longest is about four Lit pages.

That said, I have continued some as series. My longest series is on Chapter 23. The rest not nearly so long.

I suppose I could post it as is and then right a sequel if it comes to me. There's certainly room for more.

I'll sit on it for awhile I suppose, no harm in that.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Not all of these are on this site, so don't look for all of them here. I can give you feedback if you wish.

1, Sometimes I start a series with no end goal in mind, and sometimes I regret that because it just ends at some random point - for the foreseeable future anyway.

2, Sometimes I start adding sequels to a stand-alone story, and it becomes a series in all but name. At least one of those did have a conclusion.

3, Even a series may itself generate sequels (if I'm lucky), which if they are separated from the original events by some time - like maybe two years - have new "stand-alone" titles. I have links at the top of the stories alerting the readers of what is going on.

4, Some a single story is just "done;" it says all that needs to be said. Not that it's impossible to that it will ever be revisited, be it's unlikely.

In your case, maybe you should tweak it - option A - since you have nothing beyond it yet. If you ever think of something more then go with the linked sequel route. (Option C?) If you really can't fix the story to you're liking, then maybe you should indeed sit it on it for a while and think further about it.

 

[MrPixel]

Sometimes I start a series with no end goal in mind, and sometimes I regret that because it just ends at some random point - for the foreseeable future anyway.

This is where my head is with the series I've been working on this year. There is no ending, no riding off into the sunset: my characters' lives will go on doing the fun, sexy and silly things they are wont to do, their business will be successful, their lives will be wonderful. Yeah, sappy, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Hmm. This elicits a seed of a sequel idea, taking a look at their future lives as the protagonist and the main characters are senior citizens and the secondaries deal with the disappointments of middle age. Dealing with self-image issues of deteriorating beauty and health-related limitations can be a bitch.

 

[gunhilltrain]

This is where my head is with the series I've been working on this year. There is no ending, no riding off into the sunset: my characters' lives will go on doing the fun, sexy and silly things they are wont to do, their business will be successful, their lives will be wonderful. Yeah, sappy, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

That's okay, that's how much of life actually goes. Updike did that in "real time" for thirty years until he got tired of his main character and killed him off. He still wrote a sequel about the family - mainly the son - ten years later.

 

[Carnevil9]

My stories tend to start with a well-defined conflict. When the conflict has been resolved, the story is finished.

It doesn't stop readers who have enjoyed it from asking when the sequel is coming. And even though that tells me that they didn't "get it," I can't help but feeling flattered.

 

[PennameWombat]

That's okay, that's how much of life actually goes. Updike did that in "real time" for thirty years until he got tired of his main character and killed him off. He still wrote a sequel about the family - mainly the son - ten years later.

Whatever it says about me, I made it about a third of the way into Updike’s first book in that series and… well. Put it aside and have never had the least inclination to go back. Of course, felt the same way when I tried to read John Irving’s work. Life’s too short to spend time reading either.

About a quarter of my stories here are intentional stand-alones. A number are intentional chaptered series, two of them finished and the other ongoing (it has an ending, the stories haven’t reached it, and new chapters appear rather erratically. The others are ‘open ended’ in that the immediate story ends, but with enough latitude that sort of sequels follow (I call them ‘serials’ in that they feature a common, core set of characters but each story is more stand-alone than my chaptered series.)

 

[SimonDoom]

I don't think you necessarily have to choose, but if you go forward with a story, thinking to yourself, "Maybe I'll write a sequel someday," then I would work on the ending so it does both things: leave things open for a continuation, but also end on a satisfying note.

I always try to make sure that each of my chapters is a complete story in and of itself, so it can be read and enjoyed that way. But I also tend to leave things somewhat open at the ending, even for my standalone stories. I don't have "happily ever after" endings. My stories tend to end abruptly, with (what I hope is) a clever or memorable final line, or snippet of dialogue, or something like that. But like real life, it's not really an ending in a bigger sense. Life will go on and more things will happen, and I leave it deliberately open-ended.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

It's over when it's over. Yet readers will still clamor for more even after you have killed off all the characters.

 

[gunhilltrain]

It's over when it's over. Yet readers will still clamor for more even after you have killed off all the characters.

Sometimes they do indeed ask for a sequel. But only the writer can decide if and when there will be one. The decision can be made immediately, or much later, or maybe never.