Cat Finishes Novel For Me

Conversation with my cat just now:

Me: Get off the kitchen table.

Boo Radley: It’s okay for cats to be on tables.

Me: No, it really isn’t. Get off.

Boo Radley: Well. I’ll be here on the table if you need me.

Me: Really? Could you make me a cup of coffee?

Boo Radley: No.

But that’s not really what I wanted to talk about. Today is rainy, and I am home sick with nothing to do but curl up on the couch and work on my novel. It is at the tricky stage of having been endlessy prepped from every angle to show to the publisher. Every angle except for the minor detail of the ending. 

Never my strong point, endings pose a variety of challenges. They have to be brilliant, for one, and leave the reader feeling that that was hands down the best novel they have ever read, if not the best ever written. And they have to be deeply satisfying, providing just the right amount of closure to every door the novel opened, but without being predictable or cliched. They have to be stunning. Did I mention the bit about the best novel ever? Yeah. So no pressure.

The first draft of this novel ended in a kind of cliff-hanging way. I was going for a sort of Italian Job effect (the first movie, not the Markie Mark remake). And I think I achieved it. The sad part is, as an ending, it pretty much sucks. The main character is heading off for an event the outcome of which is unknown and deeply significant. I know the outcome, because I am the author. But I didn’t tell it to my readers. Because that would be, I don’t know, spoon feeding? Because I wanted to leave it mysterious? Because I actually couldn’t decide between the two possible outcomes? It was all of the above, really, but it leaves me with the problem that the ending to my novel sucks. Thus, it will have to be rewritten before I can show it to the publisher. See paragraph about endings above. 

In an effort to recraft the ending, and because I could not bear to stop writing about my characters, I have written some material beyond the original ending. Right now, that material stands at 140 pages of dense type. I really, really loved these characters. The good news is, I have plenty of material to pick and choose from to retool my ending. The bad news is I have no idea where I should go with it.

Happily, I have a bad cold, I can’t go to work today, it’s raining so I actually want to stay indoors, and oh yes, I have a cat who is there when I need her. She’s currently napping on the piano, but I feel confident that when she wakes up, she will help me solve the ending to my novel. Cats are known for their narrative and character development skills. Boo Radley has a deep understanding of the arc of a story. When she stares at me, I believe I can almost see the perfect ending to my novel in her eyes. Either that or she’s thinking Do I have the energy right now to leave the piano and go nap on the kitchen table?