The Ending is Everything.

I recently watched "Secret Window", in which Johnny Depp plays a writer plagued by the dangerous presence of a character in one of his stories. "All that matters is the ending." Says Depp, as he gives a satisfied glance out his little square window overlooking a ready-to-harvest cornfield. If you haven't seen it, I won't ruin it for you. Its twisted, but I think Johnny has a point. All that matters is the ending. Without a great ending your readers will be disappointed. Without a great ending the rest of your book is just words and punctuation.

I cannot find the right ending to my story. I have written, rewritten, and almost perfected my beginning. I thoroughly enjoy my middle. But that ending. Oh that ending. So crucial, so changeable- like trying to catch a snowflake in my hand. Every time I think I've got it, it melts before my pleading eyes.

But I guess that's what I get for trying to mix funny with sad, monsters with mundane. I often consider leaving it and starting something new. But I don't want to. I want to finish it. I have to finish it. Even if never gets published. Even if I have to spend another few years obsessing over it. Even if one of my characters comes to life claiming that I stole his story and then proceeds to murder those who have wronged me...

I. WILL. FINISH. 



Have any of you written an ending? Have any of you struggled with your ending? I would love to know how other people go about deciding how to tackle the end of a book?