Beginnings, Middles, Endings

BEGINNINGS, MIDDLES, ENDINGS

Beginnings, middles, and endings are all part of life itself.

As authors, we control how our stories begin, what happens in the middle, and how they end. To skillfully weave together character, settings, and plot, drawing readers in at the beginning, keeping them engaged throughout the middle, and leaving them satisfied at the end, takes hard work, the ability to write well, and knowing our readers.

As in life, stories don’t always have a happy ending, but the best stories, in my opinion, leave us with hope.

As humans, we don’t have a choice how we begin life or who our parents are. As we grow older and mature, we are given more control by the choices we make. In the end, by the time we die, we may or may not have choices. Life is messy and painful. As a follower of Jesus Christ, my hope for a happy middle and ending comes from faith in Him. That’s the hope I want to share in my stories.

A short time ago, I attended a high school class reunion. Although I had shared life experiences with some of these classmates for eighteen years, I hadn’t seen most of them for fifty years. It was great. I truly enjoyed reconnecting with old friends. We took a moment to remember classmates who had died, some of them quite young. Death, illness, financial trouble, etc. had hit every one of us in some way. We had made choices about careers, marriage partners, children, and faith. We had shared beginnings, had gone our way through the middle, and now are thinking about retirement and old age. We still have choices to make. We still have hope for the life left to live.

Another year, another book to write, another season of life, we all need hope to keep on.

As an author, what hope do you want to give your readers?

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