Nail It But Don’t Nail It Down

“[I prefer] open-ended conclusions, in which there’s some resolution at hand, but it’s not tied up in a perfect literary bow. A well written-ending offers a sense of where the characters end up and where they might be headed beyond the final page” (Midge Raymond in “The Last Chapter” by Jack Smith, The Writer, December 2020). In my own writing, I want to “nail” my endings, but not “nail them down.” Ambiguity allows the reader’s imagination to continue working. The book ends but the story keeps spinning. Read more of my thoughts about writing in REFLECTIONS.

The book ends but the story keeps spinning
Why writers write: “I write to discover what I know.” – Flannery O’Connor

Author: annsepstein@att.net

Ann S. Epstein is an award-winning writer of novels, short stories, memoirs, and essays.

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