Notes from the Cavendish: Endings

My six-week Writing for Children course seems to have passed in the blink of an eye - and I am bereft! I don't like endings. I'm useless at goodbyes. I struggle to hang up the phone and even at the end of a casual get-together with friends or family, I'm never the the one who ups and leaves first and simply says, 'See you later.'

I know, I know - I have 'abandonment issues' - and I know too that endings are what make space for new beginnings, but the knowledge doesn't help.

As a children's writer, reaching the end of a story can be hugely satisfying, but there are challenges too. Children hate to be patronised so the ending doesn't necessarily have to be 'happy'. It might be thought-provoking, bitter-sweet, twist-in-the tale, hopeful, redemptive or whatever. But I think young people, like most adult readers - me included - want a resolution to the problem posed at the beginning of the story. I may struggle with goodbyes, but I still don't like cliffhanger book endings.  

Whether the protagonist 'wins' or 'loses' in the final do or die confrontation, when the stakes are at their highest, what's important is how the main character has changed. What have they learned - about life, about themselves? How have they grown?

And after it's all over? Well, I don't want to be overly-dramatic (OK, I do!) but for me - as a reader, a writer or a course tutor - then comes the let-down, the anti-climax, the sense of being cast adrift, the headlong plunge into limbo and having no idea what comes next... that's where I am now.

I'd love to hear how other people feel about endings... what are the best last lines you've ever read? How do you say goodbye - in writing or in life?

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness...

Well, obviously I couldn’t have put it better myself – it’s Dickens!

The last few weeks have been very fairly eventful and painful for me, but I'll refrain from writing about all the gory details – partly because I have enough integrity not to invade other people’s privacy and partly because I have a sense of shame and want to preserve some semblance of personal dignity.

Unbelievably, Mother’s Day was less than a month ago. I had a fabulous day with my sons – a trip to the theatre, a walk with the big son's dog and an Indian take-away.

Then the earth shifted. A phone call with someone close to me reminded me that not all the mothers I know were feeling quite so lucky and blessed - and that there have been moments when I didn't feel quite so positive about motherhood myself. On the same day, a note through my door informed me that my neighbour had died!

And then the edits on my latest book suddenly turned into major re-writes – the manuscript was too dark and sombre. Could I make it quirkier? Funnier? Shorter? Better!

I tried to find my sense of humour. Remember that old joke? Question: How many editors does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: Does it have to be a light bulb? I sent it to my editor with another ‘joke’ about considering the possibility of sticking my head in the gas oven. She sent back emergency chocolate and invited me out to lunch – but only after I'd done the re-writes!

I still wasn’t laughing. I probably took it out on those closest to me – my best friends, my oldest friends, the lovely sons – and I ran away to the mountains. Literally.

I am back home now. I have apologised. The re-writes are done – at least until the next lot. I will try to remember that like a good story, life is full of ups and downs – and of beginnings and endings.

RIP Kat.