Spotlight on CWA member Chiara Talluto
August 6th, 2007By Chiara Talluto
The End. Two of the most famous and widely known words in the written language.
I love the word The End. I often start my writing with some “end” in mind and work my way back. I say “some end” because every once in a while the ending that I had conjured is not what it turns out to be. We’ve all been there I’m sure, the detour of the creative mind and the characters we dream up. However, for the most part, I try to stick to what I set out to accomplish as the finality of the story.
The words The End are sacred to me. They hold the secret to the final resolution, conflict, and issue to whatever I’m trying to convey. When you eventually read the words The End, that’s it, it’s the full loop. You have reached the last stop on your ride of reading for that particular tale.
I recently had the pleasure of penning in my first fictional novel: Isabella, My Rose, the words The End. A story about a couple’s journey and struggles within their marriage, and the miraculous birth of their daughter born with a congenital limb deficiency who becomes the pinnacle in their relationship, in keeping it all together. Honestly, I had mixed emotions after I finished it. I knew I couldn’t go any further, but yet I felt it was time to conclude the story. Similar to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series.
But are you really done when you reach The End? Is all that labor of furious writing complete? If you are just writing for yourself and it’s a personal escape, well then, I guess you can end where you want. Maybe not, who knows, that’s an individual decision. However, for those writers like myself who want to publish their writings, it really isn’t The End, is it? I currently have two people editing my novel. I know there will be changes, but will their feedback change my ending? Hmm…I don’t know. That is between me the writer, and the message I’m delivering. I do know that if ever I get the opportunity to entertain the interests of the publishing industry; there will be plenty of enhancements to be made.
So even if you penned “The End,” the road to the bookshelves can be an uneven path full of cracks and rolling pebbles. The End may be done, but that my friends is only the Beginning. Keep writing. May the pen always be in your hand, and the words flow from your mind.
| Return to or visit Cheryl Hagedorn's web site |
Victor Hugo’s famous words,”What is Past, is Prologue.” come to mind when reading your essay.
One story ending is the beginning of another…or many others.
Comment by Mike Mendola ? August 6, 2007 @ 8:35 pm
There are a lot of truths in your, “The End: Just the Beginning,” none more informative than the title itself. How many times have I said: As soon as I finish this story, this poem, this novel, I’m going to paint the basement, rearrange my writing room, redo my yard, but my list of things to write always takes precedence. Each new beginning is like the mesmerizing light bulb is to the moth. I can’t ignore writing’s alluring siren call. But that’s not a bad addiction. Is it?
Comment by Paul Carnes ? August 7, 2007 @ 12:13 am
We do not know the end, as we do not know the beginning.
The scientist tell us the earth is 13.5 billion years old. Of that very long time, the same people tell me for about 10 billion years we were either microbs or amebas.
I’ll start beliving I have a hint to a beginning or an end after the human population is around for another seven billion years.
THE END, of this
Comment by Eddie Resner ? August 7, 2007 @ 1:27 am
I think like you. I have the end in mind, however, I also have the beginning. It’s all the stuff in between that keeps me guessing. I even know all that. The trick is to get readers into my head and let them feel what I feel. I have never thought about it the way you presented it though.
Very interesting.
Comment by marilyn donovan ? August 13, 2007 @ 9:32 pm