This week I'm going to talk about ending a story. Not finishing a novel, because that's completely different. See, lately I've been noticing that pretty much every young adult novel that comes out - not all, mind you, but most - are part of a series. The Vampire Academy, Morganville Vampires, The Mortal Instruments, The House of Night, Twilight, are the few big ones that come to mind. The list goes on and on. And in a couple circumstances, I thought, You know, it would have been okay to end this story with the first book. (Not with my examples). The book I'm writing now I found myself trying to plot out a sequel to it. Then I realized that, hey, what if the story is actually done by the time I type the words THE END?
Maybe this is more my own realization than anyone else's, but I realize that I've been feeling this pressure to pound out this amazing story... and continue it in a seven-book series. It's affecting the plot, maybe not in a good way. It's actually okay to end a story in one volume. If you feel the story is done, then be done. I think we should only keep going with a certain set of characters, setting, plot, etc., if we feel that hunger. The sense of unrest. There's more to it, these people aren't finished. I'm going to look out more closely for this feeling from now on, just to save myself some time and pain.
So, yes, that is what was on my mind today. Check in with you guys next week. Oh, two more things. For those of you who haven't yet, feel free to stop by my blog and sign up for Secondhand Saturday, a book-a-week giveaway. The other thing is NaNoWriMo again. I'd like as many writing buddies as I can get. This month is going to be bloody.
Happy reading and writing.
