Always Leave 'Em Wanting More... (them being me)

I'm over the finish line at last, I'm just busy putting the final spit and polish onto Hanging Around and it will be up in a couple of hours. Curiously, the one story I've written from life (in general, not in specifics) is the one I've found the most difficult to end satisfactorily. I suppose that's because the kind of stuff that happens in real life doesn't lend itself well to traditional narrative structure.

A concept piece is as much about the event as it is about the people, so anything that isn't moving the plot forward or informing the character's actions, be it immediate or at the denouement is extraneous. The character exists as something to hang that idea you're so in love with on, rather than as a thinking or feeling person in their own right who moves the story in unexpected directions.

For something rooted more firmly in everyday life, the idea of a beginning, middle and an end is a touch more problematic, particularly in the short form. Life doesn't work like that, so the story can't either. You have to jump in at the middle, wander along with the person for a while and then stop, and right there is the problem. Where do you stop telling what happened to this person? If there isn't an overarching plot you can find yourself droning on for much longer than is necessary, so you just have to find somewhere and say to yourself "Enough" and that point can feel pretty arbitrary. All you can do then is put it out there, hoping that any others who read it agree that you stopped at the right time. Give me a little time and you can judge for yourselves.