This may come as a strange admission… but although I have finished writing the first draft of my novel I didn’t know how the story ended. All I did know was that the ending I had for the first draft didn’t work and needed some major revision.
The second draft of the novel has resulted in significant change to the structure and content of the novel; with whole chapters being culled and new episodes being brought in. During this process I haven’t directly dealt with the problem of “the ending that isn’t”… but it has been a continual subject within my own thinking.
As the novel has altered so my understanding of the story has subtly shifted. Like a dripping tap, that issue of the ending has been working away in the background until now I know how the story ends. And I can tell you - that’s a relief! Whilst I was confident that the ending would come eventually, knowing that I now have a clearer idea of what is going to happen (whilst also realising that there is still a lot of detail to be fleshed out) stills the rising panic that I didn’t have a suitable ending and that the one that already existed just wouldn’t do.
So now all I have to do is write it: Easy peasy!
