[Before we begin, allow me to present something that I find particularly interesting: this week my blog has been viewed twice as much in from Ukraine as from United States. Also, nearly half as much from Georgia (the country, not the state). I'm not sure why I appeal so much to Eastern Europe, but I do find this interesting. Hopefully all of my Eastern European readers are enjoying themselves, as opposed to being sent here by a misguided search engine. Now, to the real post.]
When I was young, I learned the essential parts of every story: beginning, middle, and end. The middle is usually pretty simple: it's where most of my writing begins, with the concept I want to address. Once I know the concept and have it worked out in my head, I sit down and write. I usually start at the beginning and write my way up to what I've thought, as opposed to writing directly what is in my head. This allows me to develop the beginning and the middle.
I do not reach the end so easily. I have written many things about many topics which sit on my computer indefinitely unfinished (and now that my computer is broken and they're gone, permanently unfinished). I've put a lot of thought into my difficulty with finishing writing. I've come to a conclusion about why this is: I don't like the resolution of things, as it seems very unrealistic to me.
Endings are what we see in sitcoms: at the end of 30 minutes (about 21 with the commercials removed), the problems are all solved and the credits roll. Jack Tripper takes his seat between Chrissy and Janice, with Mr. Furley not realizing that he is misinformed about Jack's sexuality. For 30 minutes Jack had two dates, which Chrissy and Janice misunderstood one sentence that they overheard from Jack, but that's all over with. Everything is fine now. There are no more problems.
This is not real life: if I accidentally have two dates the same night (which would be no small miracle, considering the frequency of my dating), I'm going to cancel/reschedule one. I'm certainly not going to try to take them to the same restaurant and sit at two different tables. I live in the real world. Problems aren't tied up with a bow.
I mentioned to a friend who has been a first grade teacher that a story I told had a beginning, middle, and end (all packed into about a minute). She told me that she is an unconventional first grade teacher, and that those aren't essentials. Sounds good to me. But what then are the essentials? How do you end a story, or for that matter a blog post? Do you need a dramatic climax, or is the ending a time to let things cool down? Should there be foreshadowing that it's coming, or should you just suddenly_stop?
[Before we begin, allow me to present something that I find particularly interesting: this week my blog has been viewed twice as much in from Ukraine as from United States. Also, nearly half as much from Georgia (the country, not the state). I'm not sure why I appeal so much to Eastern Europe, but I do find this interesting. Hopefully all of my Eastern European readers are enjoying themselves, as opposed to being sent here by a misguided search engine. Now, to the real post.]
When I was young, I learned the essential parts of every story: beginning, middle, and end. The middle is usually pretty simple: it's where most of my writing begins, with the concept I want to address. Once I know the concept and have it worked out in my head, I sit down and write. I usually start at the beginning and write my way up to what I've thought, as opposed to writing directly what is in my head. This allows me to develop the beginning and the middle.
I do not reach the end so easily. I have written many things about many topics which sit on my computer indefinitely unfinished (and now that my computer is broken and they're gone, permanently unfinished). I've put a lot of thought into my difficulty with finishing writing. I've come to a conclusion about why this is: I don't like the resolution of things, as it seems very unrealistic to me.
Endings are what we see in sitcoms: at the end of 30 minutes (about 21 with the commercials removed), the problems are all solved and the credits roll. Jack Tripper takes his seat between Chrissy and Janice, with Mr. Furley not realizing that he is misinformed about Jack's sexuality. For 30 minutes Jack had two dates, which Chrissy and Janice misunderstood one sentence that they overheard from Jack, but that's all over with. Everything is fine now. There are no more problems.
This is not real life: if I accidentally have two dates the same night (which would be no small miracle, considering the frequency of my dating), I'm going to cancel/reschedule one. I'm certainly not going to try to take them to the same restaurant and sit at two different tables. I live in the real world. Problems aren't tied up with a bow.
I mentioned to a friend who has been a first grade teacher that a story I told had a beginning, middle, and end (all packed into about a minute). She told me that she is an unconventional first grade teacher, and that those aren't essentials. Sounds good to me. But what then are the essentials? How do you end a story, or for that matter a blog post? Do you need a dramatic climax, or is the ending a time to let things cool down? Should there be foreshadowing that it's coming, or should you just suddenly_stop?
Beginning, Middle, and End, or Everything I Needed to Know in Life I Failed to Learn in Kindergarten
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