Adam enjoyed my story, even though I wound up having to “finish” it with notes in parentheses instead of actual prose. (One of those notes was, “I don’t feel comfortable writing this sex scene at work!”) He read it after dinner on Wednesday and marked it up with the only red pen in the house. It leaked all over the place, but it got the job done eventually. Then, we went to our favorite pseudo-French cafe and discussed the high points and low points and possible endings over coffee and dessert. It felt really strange to be talking about my characters and storylines in a public place. My heart was pounding, and I don’t think that was entirely the effect of the coffee. There were a few people around (though two were speaking Spanish), and I was both curious and nervous to know how much they had caught of our strange conversation.

(I always assume people listen to my conversations simply because I always listen to other people’s conversations.)

I think some of the ideas Adam and I came up with will work for the ending. Writing endings for literary fiction is so difficult because there’s a certain type of payoff expected – the ending can’t be too pat or expected, and yet the reader also isn’t necessarily demanding a twist at the end. Besides that, you have to make the ending philosophically worth the reader’s while – he or she isn’t just looking for everything to wrap up; he or she is also looking for some sort of relatable moral implication. To make all of that not only exist, but also work together and not seem forced is, to me, the hardest thing about crafting a literary short story.

I’ve put this week’s story away for a while. I might get back to it next weekend to do some revising, but for now, I’ve got a couple more I want to concentrate on. I think I’ll be able to check off this goal soon—perhaps once I’ve shown a few more stories to Adam, signed up for a writing workshop, and sent out at least 2 stories to different contests or markets. Honestly, all of that will probably happen before the month is over. Adam even got a new red pen so he could mark up more of my work.