Kickers

 Lots of writers have asked me over the years about the best way to write endings, or kickers, to their stories. This is an especially difficult question to answer when you're telling a depressing story. How can you leave your readers with something other than an utter sense of hopelessness?

And, given the seriousness of, say, global environmental threats, should you even try to do that?

My answer is yes.

As to the how, whenever possible I'd try to find a life-affirming aspect to whatever story you are telling, and close with that. It takes some additional reporting and some hard thinking to locate the set of facts or perspectives that may allow readers to absorb all of the bad or sad news and still feel empowered to go on, better informed about dangers, but not necessarily bereft of hope.

Endings are as natural as beginnings. At the very end of my own stories, I like to find something to leave readers with that can encourage them to find even a small piece of inspiration going forward.

It is exactly what is meant by the concept of loving somebody so much that you can actually let them go, in the end, when that's the right thing to do. It hurts, and the pain is beyond intense. But is also is the kind of ending that implies new beginnings -- for both of you. 

An ending coated with love really isn't an ending per se, but a transition to a future neither of you can yet envision. When that new stage finally arrives, you'll both feel better for the way you let each other go--not by isolating, withdrawing, and denying, but by embracing, supporting and loving.

At least that's how I see it. :)

(I published the first version of this short essay 17 years ago.)

HEADLINES:

• House Passes Controversial Spying Bill as Speaker Johnson Overcomes GOP Objections (WSJ)

• How immigrant workers in US have helped boost job growth and stave off a recession (AP)

• U.S. officials warn attack by Iran for Israel strike could come very soon without warning (USA Today)

• Harris warns in Arizona after abortion ruling a second Trump term would mean ‘more bans, more suffering’ (The Hill)

• A narco revolt takes a once-peaceful nation to the brink (WP)

• Why jury selection in Trump’s hush money trial will be a daunting task (Independent)

• On eve of hush money trial, big, bold Donald Trump shows he's nothing but a giant chicken (USA Today)

• Are the odds of Fed interest rate cuts headed for zero? (The Hill)

• Mystery as Underwater Anomaly Larger Than Texas Spotted off African Coast (Newsweek)

• In the Arctic, American commandos game out a great-power war (WP)

• New York Times Bosses Seek to Quash Rebellion in the Newsroom (WSJ)

• Here’s what’s behind the latest US-China trade fight (AP)

• Japan’s native population declines at record rate as births plunge (Financial Times)

• Watch derpy robots show off their soccer skills thanks to new AI training method (LiveScience)

• The AI Revolution Is Crushing Thousands of Languages (Atlantic)

• Axios Finish Line: Next frontier for Axios (Axios)

• Generative AI Sucks: Meta’s Chief AI Scientist Calls For A Shift To Objective-Driven AI (Forbes)

• Local Man Knows He Moved To Minneapolis For Something, But Can't Remember What (The Onion)