You can't tell me that you haven't gone to a movie which seems great right up until the climax and then the ending is so disappointing that you decide you don't even like the movie. That's because the person who wrote it had this great idea but didn't know how to end it.
When I originally wrote VIRUS 5, I always knew how it was going to end. It was that OMCOM survived, the VIRUS units digested the Stareater but there were mutations leading to the Bridadiras and Cecetiras. I had no idea that this would lead to a sequel but leaving loose ends seemed like the best strategy. Even when VIRUS 5 evolved into the long-form version of Rome's Revolution, I left the ending intact.
When I was sitting on my deck, wondering what happened to Rei and Rome when they got to Deucado, it seemed like an interesting story but I had no intention of starting to write a book without knowing the ending. The idea that when they arrived they were attacked and Rome meeting up with her father seemed cool but there had to be a reason behind it all.
So the story remained untold. One day, out of the blue (or more likely in the shower), I came up with the climactic scene where Rome meets MASAL. I could just hear her whispering "But you are dead" and MASAL's booming voice replying "Hardly." That was it! I had my ending. The entire middle section of what is now Rome's Revolution flew by and I knew I was going to write the third part.
Tomorrow, more endings.
Entry 1-365: December 25, 2013
You have to know the end before the beginning, Part 2
In yesterday's post, I discussed developing the ending of Part 3 of Rome's Revolution. Sure there were loose ends. I knew I was going to have the VIRUS units detonate Kilauea and destroy MASAL. But what about the Stareaters? Meh. I'd deal with them later but then bang, it hit me, just like something out of Masters of the Universe, Rei, Rome, MINIMCOM and OMCOM would hold Aason over their head and instead of saying "By the power of Grayskull" they'd shout "we are here" like Horton Hears a Who. This was delicious!
Anybody reading the book now would think that it was all so clever to have all the pieces fit together so nicely. And I suppose it was. It certainly taught me you had to know the end before the beginning.
Once I posted Rome's Revolution, my very first Amazon reviewer told me that Captain Keller and the rest of the Grays were acting too crazy. This bothered me. I needed them to act crazy and try to start a war so I could get some peace on Deucado prior to the attack on MASAL. It seemed worthy of another book. I have already written about how The Ark Lords came about. But ending that book was a problem. Even after Rome discovered the Darwin Project, even if she and Rei could end it, what were they going to do with all the lunatics?
I couldn't put them in prison so I had to send them away but where? That's where Helome came in. I had tossed the presence of a Vuduri colony at Rogal Canduro (Alpha Centauri) about in Rome's Revolution but never had any plans to invoke it. Then boom, it came to me (again, probably in the shower) and suddenly the not-sex scene between Rei and Virga was not only funny but necessary to have my ending. Once I knew how it was going to end, the book wrote itself.
Tomorrow, the ending for Rome's Evolution.
Entry 1-366: December 26, 2013
You have to know the end before the beginning, Part 3
In yesterday's post, I discussed how the ending of The Ark Lords came about. Today, I finish up with how the ending for Rome's Evolution came about.
Rome's Evolution was never supposed to be a novel. It was going to be a novella entitled Rome: Tracker and it was just going to be about Rome acquiring telepathic capabilities and tracking down the would-be assassins. I knew how it ended. Rei and Rome were going to capture the last two fugitives. But suddenly, clear as day, I realized there were other loose ends (Sussen, anyone?) that I could bring in. So how would it end? Well, Rome would triumph, of course. But how? I loved the idea of split narrative. I did it in the middle Rome's Revolution with Rei and Rome taking their separate journeys. I also did it in The Ark Lords by interweaving the story of how Hanry Ta Jihn defeated the original Erklirte. But in Rome's Evolution, I wanted to take it to the next level. Literally. The battle between Rei and Rome and MASAL's Sipre was going to take place both on Earth and within the ethereal plane.
But I knew it was Bonnie Mullen, holding Jack Henry's M9 Beretta and shooting Sussen in the head would be the climax. I had my ending! The rest of the story wrote itself.
So I go back to my original premise. You cannot write a book (or make a movie) before you know how it ends.
Epilogue
Tales of the Vuduri: Year Two
If you made it this far, I thank you. You should be pleased to know that I am well into my next year’s worth of blog entries on Goodreads. I am still following the discipline of writing seven articles on Sunday and I am still only at Chapter 8 of the original long-form version of Rome’s Revolution. Where it will end, I don’t know but I’m as anxious to find out as you are.
Also scheduled for 2014, the next installment of the Vuduri saga: The Milk Run which stars Aason Bierak, all grown up. Also scheduled for 2014 will be the compendium entitled The Vuduri Companion which will contain short stories, deleted scenes, alternate scenes and other items of interest.
Stay tuned!
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