"The end is not the end". That sentence governs everything that I write. I know when a reader reads "and they lived happily ever after", they tend to say "the end". I used to take this for granted, but now I say, "Seriously? That sentence just contradicted the other one."

That profoundly affects my writing. I know when my reader reads the final word of any of my books or stories, they will have a craving still. They will want to read more, or perhaps they will want to do some other thing. But they move on.

I want my book to reflect that. This desire to move on. I never really can write, "the end" unless there is something in the story that merits that. Sure, my story is fictional and serves an end goal, but our lives continue, and so do those of our fictional characters, in a sense.

It's not that I don't want my reader to realize that these characters will die, in a sense. They serve a purpose, an eternal one. But they are not eternal.

Even so, saying "the end" seems disingenuous and maybe even dishonest. Fiction, too, can seem like dishonesty as I'm telling readers something that isn't real. But I don't expect my readers to suspend their disbelief. I don't want them to get lost in a world and not be able to come back to reality. The end purpose of fiction is to enhance that reality rather than the other way around. Jesus understood that when he told parables. Every one that understood and accepted the true interpretation(s) of the parables (which is/aren't "up to the reader to decide") were blessed because the truth enhanced their life going forwards.

Why do you write? What sort of things influence you and help refine your work? And if that thing happens to be the "Fast and Furious" franchise, so be it. We're all on different levels :P