My writing needs help

[Blaze]

And what if he goes through all that and the Princess looks at him and says, "Thanks, now I can go back to my girl friend!"

[RobJN]

Heh. Actually, i was thinking something more along the lines of the princess saying "Thanks for waking me back up!" smiting him with some lightning or fire or some such, and then riding off on her broomstick to go back to enslaving the world.....

[Gritti]

I just have to say I don't have much to add, just that I learned a great deal from reading this thread and I just happened upon it.  I think endings are always tricky, but I think each time I sit down my gut tells me what kind of piece I want to put together.  For instance, I know in advance if I want the ending to be positive, negative, or absurdly "out there", but I'll admit that the journey through the "Great Swamy Middle" sometimes has a hand in changing my mind.  The point is that if you're going to have a positive ending then you somewhat know how your characters are going to end up at least emotionally.

Let it be noted that I have no training in writing so i understand that my ideas may not be groundbreaking.  Mainly wanted to thank everyone for the great advice, and for posting the question in the first place.

[meg_evonne]

Let it be noted that I have no training in writing so i understand that my ideas may not be groundbreaking.  Mainly wanted to thank everyone for the great advice, and for posting the question in the first place.

Ahh,you think we do, huh?  Got ya!  Stick around and have some fun in here Gritti.  Try out 250 words to see if we're hooked.  We's can be gentle or we can be tough, let us know which you prefer!

[Starbeam]

The way I work, most of my stories have an ending before I've written too far into them.  Then I know where I'm going, and it's a matter of getting from here to there.  And then figuring out the little bits and pieces after the end that aren't quite set in stone and are somewhat blurry.  For me, it's sort of like driving.  While you can just get in the car and go and see where you end up, I usually know where I'm going but don't always know exactly what route I'm taking to get there.  And sometimes even taking a route I've used many times before, I see really awesome looking stuff.  And going off on a tangent, makes me always want a camera, like the time I drove by a car dealership with this absolutely huge American flag that looked like it was waving in slow motion, and I think it was snowing and after dark, so it was lit up.  Really wish I'd had a camera then.