The final chapter of North Pine Dove is taking awhile to write. I find myself thinking of all the books I've read--or decided against reading--because someone said "I liked the book but I hated the ending". Who wants to read that book? At that point, you don't care why they hated it--you just know it's not worth your time.The other hesitation is that I don't want to let go of the book, so I'm savoring the last opportunities to include everything that matters.
When Cindi and I set out to write a book almost three years ago, we began with a pretty well-developed plot, so, the ending is more one of necessity than it is random. There are many mysteries or questions that have to be answered by the end of the book (and just a few parts left up to the reader's imagination). Had it not been for our weeks in the summer and quick trips home in the winter when we collaborated--there would be no book. But a plot outline and frequent collaboration does not automatically create a book. People have to actually write it. And in the writing of it, I have learned that getting from a. to b. is much trickier than it appears. If you've done any fiction writing, you don't need me to explain that and if you haven't, there aren't words...."
So, in gently folding the petals of the story back into place at the end, I've resorted to making lists of minutiae that have to be consiously resolved or dropped. Let me give you an example of a movie in which that didn't happen.
When I was in high school, I went to see "The Sandpiper" with Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Eva Marie Saint. I was too young for the movie, which was a bit sophisticated for my taste. I'm including the link below without opening it--that'll have to be another day. Something in the movie (and I can't even remember what at this point) was neglected at the end. Some puzzle or riddle. It's bugged me ever since. I've always planned to watch it again and see if it was just my teenaged brain that couldn't grasp symbolism or something more--an actual mistake, as in, the resolution of the issue was accidently left on the cutting room floor.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059674/
I don't want to annoy our readers by leaving story lines hanging or poorly resolved. Sometimes it occurs to me that if I get in a hurry to finish it, I'll make that mistake. I'll wake up in the middle of the night after the book has gone to press and think Oh, my God...I forgot to say what happens to whomever. So, even though the book is nearing 88K words, I'm going to take all the time it takes to satisfy myself, Cindi and hopefully the reader. Speaking of which, I have two people--maybe three who have agreed to proofread it! That's good, but scary. I have to remind myself that we always love our own babies, no matter what. Even if it's an ugly baby--an annoying baby--it's our baby and I'll love it.
So, to finish the book, I pulled out a DVD I have of interviews with our mother and I'm sqeezing in just a little more of her memories life on the farm. Here's a snippet of one of the sweetest memories she shared.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysTvBN-_FjY
Next post will surely be about how the rough draft is complete.
