Kind of a strange thing to focus on, isn't it?
I've never even thought of the idea that there are words that could be "overused" as last words of a work - unless one counts The End, which I wouldn't.
For the record, the last word of my comics (longest work I've ever finished), not counting The End, was "dead".
Hmm, I don't really think about this much.
- Exile 1.0
Unless the last word happens to describe an important element in the story, like JKR's plan to end Harry Potter with "scar", I really don't think the last word is that significant.
Her plan to end with "scar", by the way, ultimately fell out. It was still part of the last sentence, I believe, but by the final edit the sentence had to change.
edited 29th Sep '11 8:00:47 PM by annebeeche
Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.
Wimpy Mc Squishy
I haven't really though about the last word, but I spend a lot of time thinking about the first words, both of separate works and of chapters within those works.
'Cross my heart, strike me dead, stick a lobster on my head.'Indeed. As someone pointed out, even that whole "last word of Harry Potter" thing ended up not being the case.
My comics are actually completed, so at least in my case it's not a prediction, but even there I'm revising enough that it might wind up changing if I ever "publish" them in any way (most likely as a webcomic). And as for other works, I've never even considered what their last words might be.
In a long work, this may not be a prominent factor, but in short stories and anything with very tight writing, it's worth considering. The last word of each book of The Divine Comedy is "stars," for instance (to the bane of translators, who are forced into some awkward lines to maintain the rhyme). The last word of Candide is "garden."
edited 29th Sep '11 11:37:58 PM by jewelleddragon
probably will be the name of the chapter or book; i like to do that when possible as my own kind of signature
Who knows? my tradition when reading fiction is to read the last sentence of the book FIRST. and then when i read the whole thing front to back it makes a kind of 'click moment' go off, and i can truly feel like the book was completed. best of all, in 98% of cases it doesnt spoil it for me, i think one long sentence did slightly to some minor detail, but i forgot it when i got up to there anyway.
as of the 2nd of Nov. has 6 weeks for a broken collar bone to heal and types 1 handed and slowly
Does that have something to do with Not So Different?
Her plan to end with "scar", by the way, ultimately fell out. It was still part of the last sentence, I believe, but by the final edit the sentence had to change.
Yeah, I know that, too. I guess she had some influence in this aspect of my writing.
I know it's probably going to change, it's just something I like to think about. I find it strange that editors would try to change the last sentence I'm planning, considering I don't find anything wrong with it.
Edit: By the way, the very last words of my first and second books (it's a trilogy), respectively, are "definitely" and "effort".
edited 30th Sep '11 6:56:53 AM by Teraus
"You cannot judge a system if your judgement is determined by the system."No, I'm pretty sure she was the one who changed the sentence. Maybe trying to end with "scar" would be too awkward with the final piece at that stage.
I say "final edit" in the same way one says "final cut" of a film.
Banned entirely for telling FE that he was being rude and not contributing to the discussion. I shall watch down from the goon heavens.I don't know about series, but the last two words of my Always a Hero are "Worth It." The last word of Lit's Green Earth is "began," which is making me wonder if we have a trope yet for when endings are referred to as beginnings are vice versa.
"Proto-Indo-European makes the damnedest words related. It's great. It's the Kevin Bacon of etymology." ~MadrugadaYou could say that...
The reality however is a tad different than that trope. The whole part at the end of the series is far too spoilerrific for me to ever reveal the barest of details until pretty much shortly before I put it down to text.
edited 30th Sep '11 5:23:10 PM by MajorTom
"management" is the last word in Book one, but I'm pretty sure "Goddammit" is gonna be the last word in the whole series.
(屮≖益≖)屮 彡 ┻━┻ F*ck yo' table; Go read my book! —> http://goo.gl/mtXkm![]()
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There do seem to be a lot of these that sound somewhat grim. "Dead" in my case, at least, wasn't nearly as grim in context - It followed a long "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue to confirm that this time, the extremely hard-to-kill Big Bad was, indeed, Killed Off for Real.
Currently, the last word of my series is probably going to be "smile". Of course, that would change, but considering that it's in the first sentence...

I haven't finished my series yet, but I know which word will be the last: "Complete".
It's perfectly adequate for the situation (and it's supposed to be unbelievably, mind-bogglingly epic), but I might change it if it's overused. Is it overused?
edited 29th Sep '11 7:44:09 PM by Teraus
"You cannot judge a system if your judgement is determined by the system."