“We begin at the end.” Yup, that’s my one great line pick this month and the title of Chris Whitaker’s recent book. It’s rare for a book title to hit me like this one did, especially when it gets me in the middle of the book. I read this line and I could almost see a lightbulb flashing above my head. 

Powerful Titles

Book titles intrigue me. Sometimes authors write their own and other times the publishing house creates them (I called my recent manuscript “Book Two” for a year and have changed the title twice since then). Book titles are instrumental to book sales, and I love trying to figure out how a book title fits into the story. I love to wonder why an author or publisher chose a particular title. But I can’t remember a title staying with me for days after I’ve read it like this one has.

We Begin At The End is a murder mystery, a love story, and a heartbreaking tragedy (with a somewhat happy ending). It’s also a mystery crime novel which only my book club coaxes me to read. This story was so well written, and the characters so well drawn, I didn’t even mind.

The character who said, “we begin at the end,” was speaking about the loss of a child that led to the ultimate destruction of his family. He was explaining to his granddaughter how he moved forward from the loss. To me it meant, the worst times in our lives can also be new beginnings—an “end” can be a signal to “begin” again.

My New Beginning

I finished the second revision of my manuscript last night. Off it went to volunteer readers with my hopes and dreams fiercely attached to the PDF copy. Now, I’m supposed to research agents, and polish up my outline and synopsis, but I woke up this morning thinking, what if this is the end? What if At Her Side never gets published? My eyes teared as I imagined this is my end, a second novel to remain unpublished and unshared with the world. What am I saying to my children if my hard work comes to nothing? And what do I do now?

Who’s in Charge?

And then this line floated into my brain. I begin again—I begin at the end.

The idea is liberating. So, what if nothing happens with my manuscript? I wrote it and rewrote it (and rewrote it again) and that’s something to be proud of, even if it is the end. More importantly, while I may have no say in whether my book gets published, I’m in charge of my next step. No one can make me stand still. No one but me.

And that’s what I want to say to my children. Don’t stand still. Every ending is a new beginning. You’re in charge of your destiny, and you can succeed if you keep moving forward and don’t quit. Oh, and no one (including your mother, even though she’ll try) can do that for you—you have to do it. You reach for your dreams. You begin again.

Thanks, Chris Whitaker, this is one great line.

If you can relate to this great line, I’d love to hear from you! Please scroll down and leave a comment.

If you’d like to read more about We Begin At The End, click here.

If you’d like to read about me, and why I started this blog, click here.