I Hate Happy Endings

they're just so boring

How It’s Going

Word Count: 77,645

I’m struggling to write the ending of this book. STRUGGLING.

I’ve been dragging my feet for the past couple weeks, facing so much resistance and procrastination. Part of me wants to hurry up and crank out these last few chapters so that I can just be done. The other part of me doesn’t want to write at all.

Maybe the reason I’m feeling so much resistance is that subconsciously I don’t want to finish this draft. Because once I do, the story is set (kind of). The focus will shift to making the prose shine rather than implementing huge developmental edits that drastically change the plot and characters.

I’ve also been working on this draft for almost 1.5 years now, so it’s become what I’m used to. The idea of tackling a new draft and starting all over from page one seems daunting.

And on top of my motivation being non-existent, I’m not satisfied with how the ending is turning out. The writing is choppy, the conversations feel forced, and it’s just not engaging. But I have no clue how to fix it.

So… yeah. That’s how my book is currently going. Sorry to put a damper on things haha. I know I should be feeling excited and proud of myself for almost finishing this monster of a draft. But in reality, I’m just in a negative headspace about it all.

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Endings Are Boring

I felt this way while writing both my first and second drafts, so it didn’t come as much of a shock this time around. But I just don’t like writing endings. Something about it feels so anticlimactic and boring. I miss the parts where the tension was building and plot twists were happening and things were exploding (metaphorically, unfortunately).

Endings just lack flair. There’s no more drama or tension. Their whole purpose is to tie everything up neatly in a bow, to smooth every issue over. And it’s just not fun to write.

Maybe part of my boredom stems from the fact that I didn’t really get to choose the ending. It was kind of prewritten based on what happens in the rest of the book. Endings are simply a reaction to the previous actions. I knew exactly what needed to happen to resolve the story, so nothing surprised or excited me about it.

Also, because I’m writing a romance, I have to write a happy ending. I mean, I don’t *technically* have to. But it is one of the key characteristics of romance books. And don’t get me wrong, I love reading/watching happy endings. But writing them, not so much. I prefer writing the messy, complicated emotions, not the neat ones. And the entire ending is just a whole lot of neatness, which can feel a bit forced at times. Like I’m just shoving my character together to get them to make up, even if it’s not entirely realistic.

Showing the Change

Because my characters have been growing throughout the book, the ending really needs to show how much they’ve changed. So in these final few chapters, I’m attempting to demonstrate how they’ve fulfilled their arcs and what their new outlook on life is. Essentially, what the experiences they went through taught them.

But in doing so, it feels like I’m writing a self-help book. My characters are spouting off all these wise perspectives, and it comes across as preachy. I’m flat out telling the readers what the themes/lessons of the story are, rather than trusting that they can decipher them.

Like one of the lessons in my book is that there is always another side to the story. And I have one character quite literally saying, “There’s always another side to the story. Reality is never as simple or straightforward as we’d like.”

It just feels a bit too… direct.

So now I’m wondering, should I stop trying to spell everything out so clearly to the reader? Should I get rid of the blatant statements and let people draw their own lessons/conclusions?

Weaving in Backstory

Another thing that I’m really struggling with is all of the backstory that I need to include. There are things that the reader quite simply has to know for the story to make sense and have a satisfying ending. But it just feels like the last few chapters only consist of backstory.

There’s not really anything new happening in them. No actions, no plot, no conversations that take place in the present moment. Instead, there are just long, textbook-like sections where one character takes us into the past by sharing their backstory.

It’s a lot of telling rather than showing, and as a result, it doesn’t feel very engaging. But maybe that’s because I already know everything about these characters, and since the reader doesn’t, they’ll find it interesting because they’ll be learning unexpected things about them. Or at least, that’s what I tell myself.

It’s a hard balance, trying to navigate all of the necessary backstory while still keeping the ending fresh and exciting and in the present moment. But hopefully it’ll get there eventually.

Excruciating Editing

• Dealing with a lot of resistance and procrastination

• Not having fun writing the ending

• Hating how some of the final chapters turned out

Easy Editing

• I’m almost done with editing this draft ahhhhh!!!

• The word count is exactly where I want it to be

• I’m eager to begin line edits

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Do you like writing endings and tying everything up in a neat bow? Or do you prefer the messy middle like me? Let me know in the comments!