A man’s fame lasts longer than his life
11
Possibilities
Writing a great ending to a story is just as important as a riveting opening that attracts our attention and compels us to mentally linger over the story. Our response may be filled with joy, hope, happiness, or it may lead us to feel uncomfortable, frown, or contemplate the unknown mysteries of life.
I often say in my classes that I don’t believe there’s a predictable formula for every ending. But, it’s essential to provide an emotional landing place, so the audience can feel a sense that their lives have been made richer for having heard the story. And while that may not be an easy feat, here are three tips to remember.
Find the right moment to end
It’s crucial to realize when it’s time to stop. The trick is to acknowledge mistakes and calamities without reiteration or blame, while at the same time avoiding any saccharine projections into the future.
Don’t end prematurely!
Sometimes the curtain falls with a surprising thud. Beware of premature endings that leave too many threads still unraveled. Crimes should be solved and the world saved from villains.
Most of my students write about themselves or an event in their lives. Focus on what makes a point, has a theme, and requires an enlightened ending, even though a life isn’t over. It doesn’t have to be happy, successful or inspiring. What’s more important in a coming-of-age story are the resolutions of obstacles overcome, with experience and wisdom for anything that might follow.
Endings are about change
It’s disappointing for a reader to reach the end of a story only to realize that the characters and continuing events are basically at the same point as the beginning.
Endings are about change. Fiction and narrative nonfiction stories are about overcoming major obstacles, quests, and transformations. The changes may not be all good. The story may be upsetting or depressing. But if no one learns anything and the challenges faced at the outset remain static and identical to those at the end, the story will seem pointless, unsatisfying, and without significance, not to mention the character staid.
Remember stories are about life which is why we respond to them. Personally, my interest gets piqued by character-driven material— it’s one of the reasons why I love movies. I like to fall for characters featuring ordinary people who succeed in overcoming extraordinary challenges. 
What about you?
Are you working on the ending of a story? I’ll watch for any questions here in comments.
Nanu Nanu
I was reading somewhere online about the vast majority of indigenous languages still spoken in the United States that are on the verge of extinction.
Taken aback, I thought other than perhaps the Native-American tribes who speaks anything other than English in this country? I think that Americans are afraid of languages and resist learning them. Its part of not wanting to give up control. The melting pot encourages a fusion of culture and speech when it’s far richer to expand and motivate your left brain function. Our whole consciousness is framed by language and the loss of it serves as a break from identity.
Linguist Elizabeth Little spent two years driving all over the country looking for the few remaining pockets where indigenous languages are still spoken — from the scores of Native American tongues, to the Creole of Louisiana. The resulting book is Trip of the Tongue: Cross-Country Travels in Search of America’s Lost Languages.
Speaking three — okay truth be told, maybe only two and a half but having a good ear whenever I even say the word “schmootzik” Yiddish for dirty to my Coco when we’re at the doggie park I get blank stares as if I’m from outer space. http://www.bubbygram.com/yiddishglossary.htm
For anyone who speaks more than one language, some words have more power and pizzazz in a foreign tongue. It brings to mind, when I was growing up name-calling was “verboten” in our household and grounds for punishment. Telling my brother who was eleven months older, that he gave me “asco” Spanish for nauseate was the ultimate insult and would leave me feeling very satisfied.
If I were to embark on learning a language facing extinction, I would choose Yiddish and here’s why.
Before I met my husband I went on a blind-date with a man who spoke it fluently. We were at an upscale restaurant breaking bread for the salad. I wasn’t the least bit impressed by his looks but I was about to find out what a wonderful conversationalist he was. He told me that his father had said (in Yiddish) that he was so forgiving that a person could spit on his face and he would say it was raining. I snorted my bread from laughter!
There is a depth of Yiddish that shows complexity and humor. It’s loaded with a secret code of expressions, including terms of endearments, complaints and insults. And although it is fading fast since the Jewish European wipe-out, my wish is that it lives on. So I’ll end with a Yiddish proverb: If one man calls you a donkey, ignore him. If two men call you a donkey, think about it. If three men call you a donkey, buy a saddle.
Perfect Ten
It’s now March which means it’s Women’s History Month. To pay tribute to the month I’m listing the names of ten writers which I feel offer inspiring, bold and sometimes even disturbing stories of women — along with what makes them notable. It’s important to dig into women’s stories, to experience first-hand how their storytelling evolved. These are my picks. 
Isabel Allende- I once saw her coming out of a Spanish language bookstore in Berlin as I was walking in, and out of respect for her privacy, I smiled. I could kick myself now for not having spoken to her. A gifted storyteller, The House of the Spirits and her other works have a focus on Latin women. Her stories inspire, haunt and touch on the magical, and mythical in the lives of everyday people.
Zora Neale Hurston- How she maneuvered symbolism and colloquialisms in Their Eyes Were Watching God demonstrated originality and an incredible force of talent. Her work is regarded novel in the entire canon of African American literature.
Kate Chopin- Her depth of a woman’s struggle within oppressive social structures received much public contempt at its first release of The Awakening. Its initial controversy may not be felt today but the depth of a woman’s self-actualization is as applicable today as it was then.
Lillian Hellman- Her play The Little Foxes is intense. I can’t say if it’s better as a book or as a performance because I’ve only read it. The story centers on a dysfunctional family and Hellman does a superb job of exploring the Apollonian and Dionysian struggle through wealthy southerners.
Flannery O’Connor- She has a distinctive tone. Her prose sings. The songs are dark, tragic and sad. A terrific short-story collection is A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories. She draws out the internal despair of her characters in a way that makes them feel palpable and real.
Amy Tan- I don’t know another author who writes about mothers and daughters with more empathy than Tan. In The Bonesetter’s Daughter she depicts tumultuous relationships and most women will recognize enough similarities in the characters feelings and actions that will be eerie.
Jane Austen- Both society and the English language have changed in the nearly 200 years since the publication of Sense & Sensibility. Austen’s language is as eloquent, warm, filled with bits of irresistible sarcasm as ever. The plot is very cleverly weaved and her heroines are given a vast space to express their thoughts and feelings, highlighting all the way through the differences between them.
Colette- A flair for drama and role-reversals. She was divided into idyllic natural tales or dark struggles in love. On my first voyage to France I was given the paperback Gigi by a girl-friend. It was surprisingly different than the American musical film I had seen. The story of a girl being groomed into being a courtesan was marked by clever observation and dialogue with an intimate, explicit style.
Sylvia Plath- Extraordinary psychological insights. She echoed her own experiences as a rising writer in the early 1950s in The Bell Jar. It chronicles the nervous breakdown of a brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, successful, writer. Her prose is clear; well-written; and steeped in isolation as she herself spirals into the darkest recesses of depression.
George Sand- A spectacular pleasure seeker. A mammoth of a book (800 plus pages, I had more patience back then) Consuelo, is the lively adventures of an 18th century Gypsy opera singer. A rare examination between music, religious fervor, love, insanity, travel, while tossing in numerous fascinating historical figures from the 18th century. Lively with powerful plot twists written in a spirit of independence.
When I’m 84
Last night, the 84th Academy Awards (http://www.imdb.com/) were easier on the eyes and ears than last year’s debacle. Billy Crystal had a few good moments, such as when he said, “Nothing eases the world’s economic woes like watching millionaires give each other gold statues!”
Although my movie picks didn’t make it, there were few surprises. I was pleased for Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris winning for Best Original Screenplay but disappointed with his no-show. I wanted War Horse to win for Best Soundtrack but it didn’t win anything. I was glad to watch as Christopher Plummer (whom I associate as Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music) gave the classiest speech. Octavia Spencer looked terrific but was a bundle of nerves and unprepared. Meryl Streep desperately needs a stylist, but acknowledging her husband as she did, I overlooked her matchy-matchy look because her words brought tears to my eyes (unlike Michel Hazanavicius who didn’t mention his wife Bérénice Bejo on receiving his Directorial award) and because she is talented and likable, I have no doubt that she will be up there again.
Maybe next year I’ll be more in sync, but in any event I’ll have my opinions. What were yours?
Make it Easy on Yourself
I’ve been thinking about why students don’t ask for feedback and are highly sensitive when they receive it. I got over my hurdle when I discovered that by not accepting constructive criticism I would not grow as a writer. In that vein, I’m sharing why this happens along with my recommendations.
You worry that the feedback will be negative. Many people avoid asking others what they think about a piece of writing because they have a sneaking suspicion that the news will not be good. If you want to improve your writing, however, constructive criticism from others will help. Remember that the criticism you receive is only criticism of the writing and not about you.
You don’t know whom to ask. The person who can offer the most effective feedback on your writing may vary depending on when you need the feedback and what kind of feedback you require. Keep in mind, though, that if you are really concerned about a piece of writing, almost any thoughtful reader (be it someone whom your respect and understands your mental process) can provide useful feedback that will help you improve your writing. Don’t wait for the expert; share your writing with a few select readers.
You don’t know how to ask. It can be awkward to ask for feedback, even if you know whom you want to ask. Asking someone, “Could you take a look at my story?” or “Could you tell me if this is OK?” can sometimes elicit wonderfully rich responses. Usually, though, you need to be specific about where you are in the writing process and the kind of feedback that would help. You might say, “I’m really struggling with the structure of this story. Could you read these pages and see if the ideas seem to be in the right order?”
You don’t want to take up anyone’s time. You may be hesitant to go to a friend or mentor because you don’t want to bother him or her. If you can’t meet during another’s time schedule, try making a special appointment. If you find that you aren’t able to schedule a time to talk with a specific person, remember that there are plenty of other people around you who can offer feedback. Keep in mind you are not dependent on solely one person and be open.
You’ve gotten feedback in the past that was unhelpful. If earlier experiences haven’t proved satisfactory, try again. Ask a different person, or ask for feedback in a new way. Experiment with asking for feedback at different stages in the writing process: when you are just beginning, when you have a first draft, or when you think you are finished. Figure out when you benefit from feedback the most, the kinds of people you get the best feedback from; the kinds of feedback you need, and the ways in which to ask for feedback effectively.
In a Man’s World
It’s no surprise that there are more women in my classes than men, and when I refer to classic texts I get blank stares. This is a result of women choosing to read popular books, or material that doesn’t teach or enlighten, and time-fillers such as celebrity bios. Please don’t send me emails defending your intellectual decisions- I understand that everybody is entitled to their taste and I don’t judge anyone’s choices, but to be a writer you must be a reader and it is imperative that you read a diverse selection of material as a reference point and distinguish what is well-written from what is poor writing. However, men readers often concentrate on non-fiction and under-estimate the literary power of fiction. Today being President’s Day I’m going to focus on men. 
As I see it, there are books you read, and then there are the books that change your life. We can all look back on the books that have shaped our perspective on politics, religion, money, and love. Some will even become a source of inspiration for the rest of your life. From a seemingly infinite list of books of anecdotal or literal merit, I have complied a list, from books that shaped my mind and in my opinion also defines broader cultural ideas of what it means to be a man.
Whether it is a tale on adventure, war, or history, there is so much to learn about life’s great questions from these gems. Let me know by your comments which of these you loved, disliked, and the books that meant a lot to you and should have been included (you can even get indignant about your favorite book). Here is my list.
The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
Bluebeard, Kurt Vonnegut
The Lord of the Flies, William Holding
Catch 22, Joseph Heller
Call of the Wild, Jack London
Moby Dick, Herman Melville
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
For Whom the Bells Toll, Ernest Hemingway
Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli
1984, George Orwell
The Republic, Plato
Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand
Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner
A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
War and Peace, Tolstoy
The Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas
The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran (poetic essays)
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Stranger, Albert Camus
The Cairo Trilogy, Naguib Mahfouz
Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
Mephisto, Klaus Mann
Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwuO2dfqrF4
All you need is love
Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet and so are you. We all remember scrawling this, in some form or another, and folding a red sheet of paper in half to make a heart; an incredible discovery when you make your first one. Valentine’s Day remains ingrained in most of us as we’ve grown up. 
I’m one of those who think that the secret to surviving Valentine’s Day when you’re single isn’t about finding a significant other for this special day, but about remembering those who significantly affect you every day.
To catch the love bug, share the love with your friends. As most children are aware, Valentines are given to family members and friends. Teachers are the recipients of the most home-made cards during classroom construction paper activities.
For those who love to witness romance through a visual medium, tonight TCM http://www.tcm.com/schedule/ will present Summertime directed by David Lean, starring Katherine Hepburn and the Italian bello, Rozzano Brazzi. Look at Brazzi’s European old-world sensibility and charm. I made reference to it on my website http://www.lindalaroche.com/arts articles.htm in a Bittersweet Musical that starred Carol Lawrence and Anthony Crivello who has now gone on to become the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera in Las Vegas. The film is compelling and reflects a woman searching for love, yet once found has a hard time accepting it in a form that she is not familiar with culturally. My favorite scene is where Hepburn seductively shops for a pair of red high heels for her last date- “with him” an occurrence that so many women can identify with. 
Whatever your activities are this day, share love – and let the love begin with you!
Looking out is looking in
I was once sitting at the window of a Berne http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bern coffee shop, idly watching the passing throng, when a man tapped on the glass and asked if he might take my photograph. I declined his request, and later thought about the freedom to photograph the faces of strangers and how very human it is to watch one another and to photograph one another mentally or with a camera. But I suppose the more poignant I imagined his picture of a woman drinking coffee alone with a floral vase in front of her might be, the less I wanted that person to be me.
