Monday, March 5, 2012

Another "The End"

Finished the Orc story today.  It's in my wife, Michele's hands for a read-thru.  She's good at pointing out the obvious stuff that, as the author, I am too close to the story to see is missing.  Depending on when she gets done, I hope to send it off for Scott Oden to tear apart within the week.

So, do all writers write "The End" at the end of every manuscript?  Is this just a standard way of showing that your narrative is over, and that what the reader is reading is the "final" product?

So, what to work on next?  I have the S&P story, which really doesn't have a final destination in mind.  Nor is the complete plot worked out.  Then there's the thinly veiled pseudo-pastiche (as in the names have been changed to protect myself from legal action) about Prince Conn, King Conan's son, as created by L. Sprague DeCamp.  I also have the straight up S&S novella with my own "barbarian warrior" to fit into a story that might have seen print in the 70's, alongside the likes of Gardner F. Fox and Lin Carter.

Of course, I still have to do a paper by next week on the Battle of Mantinea.  Yeah, I should probably focus on that.  It's not a big one, and it has no official word-count requirements.  But, it will take some effort, and I should really dig into it.

Yeah, that's what I will do.  Homework.  Time enough for more fiction later.

3 comments:

Paul R. McNamee said...

I usually put 'The End' or 'End'. Or I used to. I wonder if it is still required. I learned that in creative writing back in college.

It also shows editor that there aren't any missing pages or more to come.

With electronic submission, not sure how valid it continues to be. If your file gets corrupted, there is no guarantee it will be the end of your manuscript that gets lost.

Joe Bonadonna said...

I don't put The End on a story or novel anymore. Haven't done it in years. iUniverse told me not to, and forthcoming book publisher said not necessary. It's been gone from movies for a long time now, but I still miss that closure. I used to try to be oh-so-cool and type **finis** at the end, lol!

Charles Gramlich said...

I don't ever use "the end." or any specific signal to show the ending. I'm looking forward to seeing what folks come up with for the anthology.