Beginnings and Endings: Do They Ever Begin or End?
As writers, we are told to read stories and watch movies. Why? Because as a writer, beginning a story is an enigma. Where does it start? Or, better yet, where did it start? One cannot indeed begin at the beginning, as our lives are an ongoing continuum, a sequence of experiences, emotions, and memories of our own and other stories that shape our own writing. Even the first word we write is influenced by our previous experiences and development, as though completing the last sentence of an earlier storyteller. That first word becomes a stepping stone into a stream that has flown from the beginning of time.
Our work is not created in isolation but rather as a part of a long line of narratives that have come before us. That’s why it is essential to know the magnitude of all that has come before (an impossible task, but one we must at least attempt). We are influenced by conventions that have already been established, whether we realize their origin or not, and our thoughts are rarely original, even without our knowledge. They have all been thought of before but expressed in multiple ways, and it is up to us to find an even newer way to express ourselves. The same can be said of our story types, themes, and meanings.
Moreover, our work is never created solely by our own empiricism. Editors and readers bring their own perspectives, emotions, and experiences (personal and absorbed through their exposure to other stories) to our stories, further shaping our stories or, at the very least, their interpretation of them. These individuals, too, come to the manuscript with a past, which they bring to our works, and which influences their understanding of them.
The idea of endings is equally complex. Endings are not indeed the end but a continuation of the literary stream. Where we exit our story and take new stepping stones from the stream, the story’s own memory lives on and influences future literary works composed by others. Writers need to understand this continuum and how it shapes their work so as to prepare themselves and study to be fresh and not repetitive. By doing so, they can create a better journey and literary experience for themselves and their readers.
Study the canon of stories that have come before so you know how to differentiate yourself from them. Write with the intensity and desire to likewise influence the generations of writers to come. For better or worse, we are influenced. For better or worse, we will impact.
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