I don't always find endings hard, but I'm finding my current WIP very difficult to bring to a close. I think it's sometimes the level of complexity that makes it hard - you want to make sure you've tied up all the loose ends, and if it's a long story, chances are that there's a lot of loose ends! The trick, I think, is not to try too hard to make everything neat and tidy. A few loose ends are permissible; even desirable. Life isn't sewn up into neat and tidy packages, so why should your story be any different? As Pam says, it often works better to pull the camera lens back a bit and take the long view - but the trick then is to find a smooth segue from the nitty-gritty of the story into your winding-up summation. Get it wrong, and your reader feels like you hurried to a conclusion before they were ready for it. Get it right, and your reader gets that warm glow of satisfaction that comes from finishing a really good story.
I think I'm writing this to myself as much as to you, Anna! Here's hoping I can take my own advice, and best of luck with your story.
Yvonne
