So how does it end?

In my quest to find the serial filler, I finally came up with an idea that I thought would work for the target market (40+ British homemakers) and the structure (three parts, 3800 words each part, the first two parts ending on a cliffhanger of sorts, and the final part wrapping it all up).  I was supposed to send the idea to the editor first but when I sat down to write the synopsis, the story took over and I finished the first part and the outline of the second two. I'm really digging the storyline, which is a great feeling no matter what you are writing.

I sent of the very brief synopsis and the first part to the editor. Unlike the first two ideas I sent, which got almost immediate knockbacks, I didn't hear from her for a few days. Today, I had an email saying she'd showed it to the editor in chief and they both loved it and to go ahead and finish. But she also said she wondered about the ending, as it looked like it would be tricky. "I'm sure you'll work it out," she wrote, very supportingly.

Um, yeah. I've been wondering about that ending myself. I think I know where I want to go with it, but I'm not quite sure how it will play out. Or if it will play out in the space allotted. Or if it will satisfy the readership. This is new territory for me, as I usually know EXACTLY what happens in my stories (I am a compulsive plotter). I guess I'm just trusting this story and these characters to take me on the journey we are meant to travel.

So how about you? Do you know how your story will end? Maybe you start with the ending and work your way back. Or do you ride the train with your characters and get off when they do?