Avi

word craft

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First sentence, last sentence

Dear Loy­al Reader:

I have writ­ten about the open­ing sen­tence of a sto­ry. It can be (should be) like a key that opens a box of trea­sures. But the last sen­tence of a book is equal­ly impor­tant. If the first sen­tence opens things, the last sen­tence should close things—like a lock—with a sat­is­fy­ing click.

So, here is a true sto­ry. Most morn­ings I get up ear­ly (say 6 AM). It is my domes­tic chore to set up the cof­fee for my wife and me.  The caf­feine is essential.

So, yes­ter­day, that’s what I did.

coffee

Lat­er in the day as I was work­ing on my new book, strug­gling to get the right end­ing, I fell asleep at my computer. 

Not a good sign. 

I decid­ed I need­ed caf­feine. I got out the cof­fee beans and was ready to grind them when, to my hor­ror, I dis­cov­ered we had been drink­ing decaf­feinat­ed cof­fee. Good grief! It was like going to the movies and hav­ing a blank screen to stare at. No won­der I couldn’t get that end­ing right.

Got out some real beans and made real cof­fee. Hur­rah! Sat down at my com­put­er and wrote a sat­is­fy­ing end­ing. Click! Hur­rah again!

But wait! I have long believed you can’t write a good book before you write a good end­ing. That con­clu­sion informs—if you will—the whole book. Which means, once you have that end­ing, you can, you must, go back over the whole thing. My expe­ri­ence is that you will find a mil­lion things (big and small) to rewrite, so the whole book coa­lesces in a uni­fied work.

Which is what I did—and am con­tin­u­ing to do. Bet­ter begin­ning. Bet­ter mid­dle. Bet­ter end. Bet­ter book.

Of course, if and when the book is pub­lished, you can decide whether that cup of cof­fee, real cof­fee, real­ly worked.

Sin­cere­ly,

Your wide awake author,

Avi

6 thoughts on “First sentence, last sentence”

  1. I love read­ing your posts. This is won­der­ful. I hope you keep writ­ing your books and these posts for years and years. Thank you.

    Reply
  2. Hel­lo and thanks for shar­ing your sto­ry! It is won­der­ful to have such insights from you that can be shared with writ­ers of read­ing of all ages. Your advice to go back after the final sen­tence that seems ‘just right’ to lock it all up is a per­fect les­son to share with young authors in our classrooms!

    Reply
  3. Your posts are always so inter­est­ing and inspir­ing. Thank you. I don’t drink cof­fee or most any­thing with caf­feine. Your post makes me won­der if, after 70 some years, I should re-con­sid­er. Ha.

    Reply
  4. Dur­ing your first vis­it to my school years ago, I shared with you my per­son­al acronym for achiev­ing opti­mal writ­ing con­di­tions: S.C.O.R.E.

    Soli­tude
    Com­fort / Coffee
    Out­let (for your ideas and/or your computer)
    Restroom (near­by)
    Ener­gy / Enthusiasm 

    For me, hav­ing a com­bi­na­tion of these five increas­es the poten­tial for bet­ter writ­ing. Glad to know cof­fee is high on your list as well!

    Reply
  5. I think of first/last sen­tences as book­ends. When in doubt, I go back to read the first sen­tence and then I know how to seal the deal.
    And decaf­feinat­ed cof­fee should be out­lawed IMO. 😛

    Reply

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