Endings do not have to mean it’s over.
Endings can be the time to ask “What happens after this?” or “What did that mean?” or “Where should I go next?”
I’m not saying that when something ends we should fight back against that ending and try to keep going. Far from it. I’m saying that we should adapt, change paths, and keep learning.
When someone starts martial arts, they often see the black belt as a goal. I’ve written about this before, particularly as I’ve continued on my own path of training. The black belt is only the beginning. Upon attaining my black belt, the first thing I realized was how far I had left to go. I am learning every day when I train at taekwondo, lessons for martial arts, and lessons for life.
In Tarot, one of the most common layouts is the Celtic Cross. There are ten positions, looking at the person, their situation, their resources, and their past and future. The final position is “The Final Outcome” which sounds… done. It sounds as if that is the only possibility.
Again, no. It’s not.
The card in the position of the final outcome is one possible outcome of the querent’s path—the one that is most likely to be achieved if the querent follows the path as laid out in the reading. But it could change. And if the querent wants more information, they could do a second reading with that final outcome card in the position of the question.
It’s not the end of the overall story, it’s simply the end of that part of it. It’s the beginning of the next arc.
I’ve been editing Missed Fortunes for the past few weeks as we finalize all the other edits that we’ve worked on, and get the book ready for print. I’ve reread tidbits while searching for snippets that I could post and share. But that isn’t the only thing I’ve been working on.
I’ve also been looking at the various short pieces I’ve written for PHU, and thinking about the next book which needs to be written and serialized (Run Together). I’ve also been brainstorming for the next book in the Seven Lakes series (Bound By Denial).
And today I realized something: for me, writing a series is kind of like doing a Tarot reading.
The plot (cards) gets laid out. The character traverse the path, their past coming to bear against the future, their resources included, until they reach the final outcome.
But that’s the end of that book, not the series as a whole.
For me, each book in a series contains the seeds of the next book (or books). If you read between the lines, there are pieces hinting at the future stories, waiting to be written and read.
At the end of Commit to the Kick, Rory shows the cloudy magical ink he has received as an unexpected side-effect during a magical ritual. Part of that story is told during Missed Fortunes, but the details don’t fully come to light until his book: Not Your Love Song.
Nate is a character seen in almost every book of the PHU series. He’s flirtatious, happy, outgoing. He’s almost always at Teas Please when the current character group of whichever book is there. He has a well-known crush. He befriends people (notably including the prickly Pels and the equally prickly Cass). His story is there on the pages, waiting to be told, and it will be when I get my arse in gear and write Run Together.
Nate is the card selected out of the layouts already performed who will be centered in the next reading.
Nate is the person who is next to learn and understand.
Personally, I love this idea, that we are never quite done. When we reach a goal, our first question can be “…and?” and we can keep going. Not in a “ohmygod we are never DONE” sort of way, but in the “there is always something new to enjoy” kind of way.
I want to know there is always something fun coming. That even when the world is crashing down around me, I can pick out one thing and say “What if…?” and keep going.
And yes, you can tell I’m a fanfic writer, too, huh?
Because.
If you don’t like the ending you’ve been given, write another.
Keep going.