WIP Challenge - Check In Day 13 - Sunday

[the_rck]

Poll #15671

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 3

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Today I

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planned
0 (0.0%)

researched
0 (0.0%)

wrote
1 (33.3%)

sent to beta
0 (0.0%)

edited
0 (0.0%)

posted
0 (0.0%)

rested
0 (0.0%)

did something else
2 (66.7%)

The way I feel about that is

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Mean: 4.67 Median: 5 Std. Dev 2.87

Terrible 1		1 (33.3%)
2		0 (0.0%)
3		0 (0.0%)
4		0 (0.0%)
5		1 (33.3%)
6		0 (0.0%)
7		0 (0.0%)
8		1 (33.3%)
9		0 (0.0%)
Wonderful 10		0 (0.0%)

Endings are difficult for me, so I'm wondering-- How do you know when a story is finished? Do you plan the ending in advance? Do you arrive there and simply know?

Mostly, when I'm writing, I'm making things up as I go along. I don't tend to do much with outlines or plans. I'm always looking for the right point at which to end the story, but often, I have to have it pointed out to me by a first reader or beta reader because I've missed it entirely.

Comments

[linaewen]

I don't plan endings exactly, but I do have an outline for most of my stories, even the short ones, and that gives me some idea of how it's going to go. I somehow have a sense when I have reached the end, usually with some pithy statement or my characters laughing together, or the problem being properly resolved. Endings often sneak up on me, though, because I think it's going to go a lot longer and then all of a sudden, I realize that if I stop writing, the story will be just right ending where it is