Editing, Schmediting

It seems to me that editing in blogs is, more often than not, an afterthought. I noticed this with my last post (which had a great deal more editing than usual). The ending of the post is a bit awkward and with a little editing and rewriting might be better.

That's indicative of another writing problem that I have: I can't write endings very well.

Usually, it has to do with the fact that I don't know where I'm going. I don't visualize where the ending needs to be. If it's fiction, I don't think about the resolution when the idea of the story is gestating. I've been working on this to some success. I've begun the habit of not even starting if I don't have an ending. This has been helpful, in one respect, in that I don't start something that I can't finish. The downside is that I start alot less.

In non-fiction, on the other hand, I usually am just rambling on about some particular topic. Here's an example. Say I was writing a short piece on writing endings. The piece might just ramble on for a while, until I get bored. Another thing that might happen is I get distracted (or, as the case has been while writing this piece, I have to go back to work). When I do return to writing, I've lost the train of thought that I was riding on. So I'll just end it.

Trouble with endings seems to aflict many writers. Robert Heinlein wrote some of the worst endings I've ever read. His endings always seemed to consist of the main character getting overwhelmed by events (physically), passing out and finally being rescued by some outside forces. That's total crap.

Not to say that I'm a writer. I'm just making observations.

How's that for an ending...