“Waving Goodbye from the Caboose ”
By Kathi Macias
http://kathimacias.netfirms.com/

In past issues we’ve discussed every aspect of our word train, from laying the track to capturing the view from the observation car. But now it’s the time when all good things must come to an end. Ever hear that statement? Of course you have. And now we’re going to see what we can learn from it in relation to our word train.

The two key words here are “good” and “must.” All good things must come to an end. This implies that when we’re enjoying something, we don’t particularly want to see it end. However, if this positive assertion is true, can we also assume that there are some not-so-good things that might never come to an end? Or does it just seem that way when we’re in the midst of enduring one of those not-so-good things—such as poor writing?

When I’m reading a good novel I can’t wait to get to the end so I can see how the story turns out. At the same time, I really don’t want the story to end because I’m enjoying it so much. In this case, our statement of “all good things must come to an end” certainly seems to apply. But if I’m plodding my way through a dismally boring, disjointed, poorly written manuscript, it doesn’t take long before I find myself wondering if it will ever end. (Sound familiar—as in, “Are we there yet?”)

The only thing worse than being forced to read all the way through a bad piece of writing is to read through a good piece and find it has a bad ending—or no ending at all. A properly constructed word train must be complemented by a strong and satisfying caboose. The ending of a manuscript should tie together everything that has gone before, much the same way that a caboose signals the end of a passing train.

For instance, have you ever watched an old movie where the hero and heroine are disappearing into the sunset on a train? Where do they stand to wave goodbye—on the locomotive, a boxcar, the observation car? Of course not. They stand at the railing at the very back of the caboose—the last part of the train—symbolically signaling the end of the story with a wave. If you enjoyed the movie, you may regret seeing that final wave, but you recognize that the story is over, and you’re satisfied with the ending.

That’s how we must leave our readers when they come to the end of our manuscript—perhaps a bit nostalgic, but definitely satisfied. What could be worse than reading the last line of a story and then turning the page, expecting more but finding nothing, feeling frustrated that the story had suddenly stopped, rather than ended? There is a great difference between the two, and if we simply stop writing rather than end our stories satisfactorily, we do a great disservice to our readers and seriously damage our reputation as writers.

Let’s look at a couple of sample endings and see if we can get a clearer picture of what it means to complete our train with a strong caboose. These examples are from books one and seven of The Chronicles of Narnia, a seven-story fiction series written by one of my favorite authors, C. S. Lewis. Though these classic books are often viewed as having been written for children, I still enjoy reading them as a grandmother—whether my grandchildren are around to listen or not! If you’ve never experienced this wonderful series, I hope you’ll be anxious to do so once you’ve seen how expertly this author draws these two books to a close.

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Book One: The Magician’s Nephew
(Summary: This opening book of the series tells the story of two friends who are instantly transported into another world called Narnia, where an evil sorceress seeks to enslave them. But then the Great Lion, Aslan, is introduced into the children’s adventure, and suddenly anything seems possible.)

Ending: When Digory and his people went to live in the big country house, they took Uncle Andrew to live with them; for Digory’s father said, “We must try to keep the old fellow out of mischief, and it isn’t fair that poor Letty should have him always on her hands.” Uncle Andrew never tried any Magic again as long as he lived. He had learned his lesson, and in his old age he became a nicer and less selfish old man than he had ever been before. But he always liked to get visitors alone in the billiard-room and tell them stories about a mysterious lady, a foreign royalty, with whom he had driven about London. “A devilish temper she had,” he would say. “But she was a dem fine woman, sir, a dem fine woman.”

Book Seven: The Last Battle
(Summary: This final book of the series takes place during the last days of Narnia, when the land faces its fiercest challenge from an enemy within. Only the king and his band of loyal followers can stop the total destruction of all they hold dear.)

Ending: And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.
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Not only are these books classics, but so are their endings. Many might say the endings’ happily-ever-after tone is unrealistic and outdated, and in today’s literary world that may be so. However, we need to remember that these decades-old allegorical books of fantasy were written primarily for children, and children like happily-ever-after endings. (So do I!)

Now, unless you’ve already read the books, you don’t have the advantage of knowing who Digory and Uncle Andrew and Letty are. But even without that knowledge, you can read these endings and know that the author has constructed some fine cabooses for the end of his trains. In the ending to the first book, The Magician’s Nephew (as is true of books two through six), the ending is a satisfying close to the story contained in that book but it doesn’t preclude another story picking up where that one left off. In fact, it leaves readers hoping for exactly that. In the ending to the final book, however (where even the title of The Last Battle is effective in indicating the end of the series), we see the “last caboose” neatly tying together all the loose ends of the story contained within that book, as well as all the loose ends of the series itself. This final ending is hopeful and positive, though a bit of a sad farewell, and the readers have no doubt that they’ve come to the end of their journey through Narnia.

That’s the type of ending you want for your masterpiece, for then you will have passed that seemingly insurmountable hurdle of taking that dream that’s been burning in your heart and turning it into a good, strong first draft, which you can now begin to polish and edit and polish some more. And that’s a great achievement! Did you know that the vast majority of unpublished manuscripts are unpublished because the authors never took the time to commit their work to paper? Those masterpieces are still buried inside, and that’s a tragedy. Never again can that be said about your manuscript, however. You have now laid your track and constructed your train; your dream is well on the way to becoming a reality.

I wish you all the best in this exciting endeavor, and I look forward to traveling with you on your published word journey in the near future. Meanwhile I’ll be listening for the call as your train prepares to leave the station: All aboard!

*Adapted from THE TRAIN-OF-THOUGHT WRITING METHOD: Practical, User-Friendly Help for Beginning Writers by Kathi Macias (AuthorHouse 2005).