ask the work what it needs

For the past few weeks, I’ve been struggling with how to end a book. It’s really close to being done. I like how it begins and the characters and their first kiss and how their relationship develops and the theme and the idea and all the other parts, but I’m not sure about the ending. I have a long thing blocked out, but it feels like in being so long, it’s paradoxically not enough.

The book must end sometime, but I have a lot of choices of how much or how little I include.

I’ve reached out to other people. I’ve read books on plot. I’ve thought about what would be most entertaining. I’ve tried to figure out what is the “best” thing to do to wrap it all up.

And with all of that, I was getting nowhere. I still had a lot of ideas but no direction. And I usually like to write when I feel very strongly about something.

I wasn’t feeling strong at all. I haven’t been. Do I delete half of what I’ve planned? All of it? Add way more?

Then last night I was (re)reading Art & Fear. (Recommend.) And I came across this quote:

“Ask your work what it needs, not what you need. Then set aside your fears and listen, the way a good parents listens to a child.” Art & Fear by David Bayles & Ted Orland.

Oh man. There’s a lot for me to unpack there.

I hadn’t been asking my novel how IT needed to end.

I haven’t been listening to it like a good parent listens to a child.

This might be the best plan I know of. I’m just gonna let the book be what it wants to be. And if it is entertaining and meets the books on plot and is the best thing, fine. And if it’s not. That’s fine, too.