Hey! It's me again. I'm here to talk about ending stories.
Ending a story well seems to be a difficult task, at least for me. Perhaps readers don't want my stories to end. I perceive that serials are more popular than completed stories after all. I don't think that's the case though. More likely, my endings just aren't very good.
My latest story, In My Sister's Footsteps, started out very well. It far exceeded my expectations. That's good. But looking at the hit count from part 1 to part 8 (the last part), I still can't call my story a success. The hit count dropped by 2,000! That's a very bad sign.
I'll still keep writing stories. You won't escape me, my pretties. But in the future, when I write multi-part stories, just read the first one or two parts and stop. No use wasting your time. *sigh*
- Terry
Comments
Ending stories?
It happens. A natural part of writing. There comes a time, even with a story the author is having a lot of fun with, that it needs to end. You'll know it's there when you have to force things to happen once the original goal in the story has been reached. Let it happen. Then you can start on the sequel if you really love the story and/or character.
Been there, done that, got a tee shirt if you'd like to see it. *grin*
In My Sister's Footsteps
Terry; Why would we want todo that after "In My Sister's Footsteps" one of your best stories for now? Richard
Richard
Once More, I Be an Out Layer
Gee, I can't remember ever having started a project without knowing how it would end, more or less. As I've mentioned before, I could write the final scene of "No Greater Love" right now and, except for some minor changes, leave it untouched when the rest of the story finally catches up to it. For me, setting the stage and introducing the characters in a convincing manner that will draw the reader into the story is the real challenge.
Besides, I'm a great believer in the old adage, "The conclusion of a story is where the writer gets tired of writing." While there is some truth to that, at some point I always feel I've said enough and that it's time for my characters to take their bow and bid the readers adieu. Though there always seem to be someone who want to read more about Amanda Newly, Jordan Wallace and, in time, Pauline Valery, there are other characters waiting in the wings for their chance step out, into the limelight and share their stories.
So don't fear ending a story or be saddened by it. Rather, look at it as an opportunity to bring a new, perhaps even more exciting character to life.
Try it, you'll like it.
Nancy Cole
"You may be what you resolve to be."
T.J. Jackson
Dear Terry
Please don't take the story count on your latest masterpiece to heart, I can confirm 5 hits by myself on part two alone as I found Dr Franknfurter rather upsetting and would stop reading, But then come back a couple of days later, Once Michelle got out of hospital and stopped interacting with the doc in every scene it got a lot easier to read and thus I read the chapters in one go. Now if nearly half the readers did anything remotely like what I did this would explain the drop in reader views.
So from this fan girl, If you can keep writing them, I'll keep reading them :D
Huggs
Sammi
P.S. If that didn't make sense, It is 2.20 in the morning here ;)
Why did the hit counter drop?
I noticed that on my own stories, too. My theory is that the reader will often pull up the previous chapter to remind her of what happened. I know that I often pull up a previously downloaded chapter when the next one comes down.
But if it's advice on ending a story that you want; the only thing I can suggest is that you wrap it up a bit more -- don't leave us hanging with unanswered questions. I still don't know what happened to poor Queen Gabrielle... I prefer to think that the two magic bolts crossed -- sending Gabi home and turning the ugly dude into a girl.
But that's just a style of ending. I may not be fond of stories that end in cliffhangers, but a lot of people like them. I mean... I could tell Stephen King that I hate horror stories, and all he would do is laugh all the way to the bank. ;-)
So don't worry about it. Your stories are great. This last one seems to be a box office smash.
(But I'm not jealous. Nope, not at all.) [snicker]
Ray Drouillard
I like to end stories...
on a high note. Where all the major points/issues raised in the story are tied up. Does that mean there is nothing more that COULD be written? No. If you've developed characters that are well liked by the readers, they are likely to want more - as in what happens next.
If you find you're not satisfied with your endings - why not ask some author who's endings you LIKE to give your final bit a look see, and make suggestions. I've found editors comments very helpful.
Annette
I Enjoyed Sister's Footsteps....
From beginning to end. Many people have commented before about early postings in their stories having more hits than the latter postings. It's just part of the way it works here. "Sisters Footsteps" got lots of attention and was really well received. Individual posting comments ranged from a minimum of 12 to a max of 24. Votes were great with a high of 64 and a low of 44. The final two postings got 53 and 50 votes. Both the votes and comments are great numbers
Terry, don't give up.
RAMI
In my Sister's Footsteps" was a great story. I read and voted for each chapter, left many comments, and may as some others have stated have my reading a chapter been counted more then once.
I am also not sure if "Storysite" was back up at the time you posted your last few chapters, but I have noted, just from a cursory review what appears to be a readership decline here, since Crystal started posting new stories. Perhaps some readers who were devoted to her site, but came here when she was down. have gone back there.
But, please continue to write. While I know you intended to end "In My Sister's Footsteps", I was one of those avid readers who wished to understand what the basis for the deception was and to see Dr. Franklin and Coffee Breath" get what was coming to them. I am sure a sequel, would be very popular.
RAMI
RAMI
The reason the count drops...
...is because when the story is posted in parts, sometimes we need a reminder of what happened. Or, in my case, I re-read the story multiple times because it was so good and I'm so eager to see the next installment *blushes*. When we hit the last one, we lost that addiction, everything is more or less complete and we don't need to re-read it too much.
A drop COULD mean that people lose interest as the story goes on...but I can attest that it wasn't the case with "In my sister's footsteps". We were all hooked 'till the very end.
Cheers,
-Christelle
Don't worry about the readers dropping.
I read the episodes slowly, to enjoy them.
I haven't got to the end of the story yet. I will though! The numbers will go up!
Hit counts / Comments
I tend to read the teasers and save the stories that appeal to me. I'll save all parts and THEN read the story. That minimizes the letdown if the author quits just as the story has really gotten my interest. I have hard drives full of incomplete titles. If Part 8 is the last part, now I will read what(by the reviews/comments) is a good story.
Thanks ever so much for your efforts
Chac
Ending stories
In my own experience, I've found ending stories to be a lot harder than starting them. I think that's probably because I'm more of a story-writing sprinter. I can put a lot of energy into a great start, but if the story goes on for too long, I find myself getting tired pretty quickly. That's the main reason why I've limited myself to short stories. I've also found that if I want to write longer stories, breaking them up into shorter chapters helped me a bit.