Tying up loose ends

[Harryasaboy]

I just finished the rough draft of my final chapter and I realize there are some loose ends. I'm undecided as to what I should do because they don't really affect how the story ends, it's just that some readers may have questions about character actions that haven't been explained. The main argument I have against these explanations is that they disrupt the flow of the story.

What's your opinion? Should I leave questions unanswered?

 

[NoJo]

I just finished the rough draft of my final chapter and I realize there are some loose ends. I'm undecided as to what I should do because they don't really affect how the story ends, it's just that some readers may have questions about character actions that haven't been explained. The main argument I have against these explanations is that they disrupt the flow of the story.

What's your opinion? Should I leave questions unanswered?

If the ends are loose, maybe the characters were extraneous?

 

[sr71plt]

If you are leaving loose ends that don't affect how the story ends, sorry, but you haven't written a polished story. The threads should all serve the story somehow and they should be resolved at least for that story.

 

[Haulover]

IMHO...

Tie up the loose ends before you bfinalize the main story line.

I.e. the final line of the final chapter should wrap up the key story line.

(Do what I say, not what I do! )

 

[CeasarBoobage]

To give everyone the "happy ever after" feeling of knowing everything has been resolved at the end, or that those loose ends are properly tied up, IMHO there are two ways to do it.

1. Weave those sub-stories back into the main feature, but in a way that doesn't distract from the current ending. Or of it starts to branch to another ending, make a fork and let that alternate ending find its way to the surface. You might like it more!

2. Epilogue (with or without a prologue). The story is done, so leave it alone. In one last short(ish) chapter, find a common way to bring these loose ends together. Maybe these people are sitting in a ski lodge around a roaring fire, talking about that one thing that happened 15 years prior. It sucks that Pat died, but it was a good thing that the evidence burned up before the cops got ahold of it.

I'm sure there are other ways to clean up the loose ends, just my $0.02

 

[NicoleZ]

I disagree. There should always be some loose ends (or hooks) for the reader to wonder over for several reasons:

1. Do you plan a sequel? If so, loose ends are vital in order to create interest in "what happens next"

2. Even if you did not leave any major loose ends, those that have a central bearing on your story, you may want to come back to it later and continue with one or more of the minor characters where you have left loose ends which can then form the basis of a plot for a sequel as yet unthought of

3. Even if you never, ever intend to return to the story, the loose ends you have left will keep readers wondering about them and return to read your story again

4. As with 3. your loose ends may serve as an inspiration for someone else as the plot for a story they want to write

Don't worry if some say that "you haven't written a polished story"! If you listen to that kind of advice and take care that every little issue is nicely resolved, you will eventually find that readers forget your story as soon as they have read the last sentence. Life itself never is that way, is it!

 

[SecondCircle]

Loose ends as in... information that should have been there to make the story make sense? Details that are relevant and critical to events in the story? Yeah, I'd say edit it and add them. If it leaves a hole in the story.

That's different than purposely leaving things vague or up in the air to make readers think or wonder.

There's complete stories that leave things to the reader's imagination. If this is the case it's fine. But if it's things that leave gaping holes (giggity) in the story itself and seems incomplete or nonsensical as a result, that's incomplete.

It's really up to you I guess to decide which of those it is... or wound up being.

 

[sr71plt]

I have to tell you that, if a reader has waded through ten chapters of a story only to find there are discernible loose ends at the end--for any reason--she/he has every justification to be pissed as hell with the author and not read any more of his/her stories.

(I guess NicoleZ is now just going to follow me around and give counter advice--until she gets tired and/or grows up. )

 

[Carnal_Flower]

Why Pilot, it sounds like you're telling other writers how to write and imposing your own tastes on everyone else.

I often leave loose ends as long as they're not major. Never get complaints. I don't like perfect endings.

I have to tell you that, if a reader has waded through ten chapters of a story only to find there are discernible loose ends at the end--for any reason--she/he has every justification to be pissed as hell with the author and not read any more of his/her stories.

(I guess NicoleZ is now just going to follow me around and give counter advice--until she gets tired and/or grows up. )

 

[sr71plt]

It's not a matter of taste. It's pretty much Creative Writing 101. But certainly feel free to write counter to this.

(My, all of the bitter back biters are coming out tonight. And it's not even Halloween yet. )

 

[Carnal_Flower]

I agree with Second Circle, who put it plainly. It's a matter of judgment of what kind of loose ends and what kind of ending you want to have. Pretty simple.

It's not a matter of taste. It's pretty much Creative Writing 101. But certainly feel free to write counter to this.

(My, all of the bitter back biters are coming out tonight. And it's not even Halloween yet. )

 

[CoffeeWithMonkeys]

It's not a matter of taste. It's pretty much Creative Writing 101. But certainly feel free to write counter to this.

(My, all of the bitter back biters are coming out tonight. And it's not even Halloween yet. )

Now say that ten times fast! hehehe
I would say full moon, but I think that was a few days ago.

Anyway my opinion, if there is any chance of a sequel, leave some loose ends, but if you plan on never revisiting the story again, tie those loose ends up!

I have a story I worked on, and it's one of my favorites I've written, but it has too many loose ends so I won't submit it until I fix it. I even had someone edit it and she said, well you could always write a part two, but I'm not sure if/when I ever would.
In my case I set out to write a scary-ish adventure story, but somewhere in the middle I detoured into the two main characters developing a relationship and the whole scary/adventure aspect took a backseat leaving a lot of unanswered questions at the end of the story. I won't submit it like that.

 

[sr71plt]

You could have posted that without your snotty slam of me, CF--you really need to do something about that petty little hurt you are picking at--but you couldn't resist your primary reason to post here. I don't disagree with Second Circle, and SC provided good, broader discussion than I did--but as I originally posted, I don't think there should be loose threads floating in any work that aren't tied up for the purpose of that particular work. Anyone taking even a basic writing class will be advised of that. The clever writer will know how to open them up again if there are follow-on works.

I think the OP isn't being served well on this thread--that there are posters with other agendas playing around here who aren't putting consideration of the OP's question in first priority.

 

[Carnal_Flower]

Well, you can ALWAYS posted your opinion without coming across as a condescending know-it-all, but it hasn't stopped you yet.

Yes, that is the key nuance--"for the purposes of that particular work." A nuance present in MY post, and SC's post, but not your original post. Glad to see you've changed your mind.

You could have posted that without your snotty slam of me, CF--you really need to do something about that petty little hurt you are picking at--but you couldn't resist your primary reason to post here. I don't disagree with Second Circle, and SC provided good, broader discussion than I did--but as I originally posted, I don't think there should be loose threads floating in any work that aren't tied up for the purpose of that particular work. Anyone taking even a basic writing class will be advised of that. The clever writer will know how to open them up again if there are follow-on works.

I think the OP isn't being served well on this thread--that there are posters with other agendas playing around here who aren't putting consideration of the OP's question in first priority.

 

[EverLux]

I just finished the rough draft of my final chapter and I realize there are some loose ends. I'm undecided as to what I should do because they don't really affect how the story ends, it's just that some readers may have questions about character actions that haven't been explained. The main argument I have against these explanations is that they disrupt the flow of the story.

What's your opinion? Should I leave questions unanswered?

I suppose it depends on just how loose the ends are.

I agree with Pilot that if the threads don't somehow enhance the story or give further insight into the MCs and their motivations, it would've been best to leave them out.
But, like you (I assume, given the length of time between each chapter posting), I didn't write my series all at once, but posted a chapter, then wrote the next. Rinse and repeat. That makes it difficult to predict where the story will take you from one chapter to the next.

My advice, for what it's worth, is to try and avoid this problem in the future. But with this series, just use your judgment. If you think it would hurt the final chapter by cleaning up the loose ends just for the sake of cleaning them up, then leave them be.

 

[Hypoxia]

ObTopic "Tying up loose ends": You have various options:

1) Write a sequel -- finesse the cliffhanger and proceed.
2) Write an epilogue -- finish it off within the story's realm.
3) Write an Author's Comment -- throw-out your excuses to the rats.
4) Don't do a thing -- leave it ambiguous, maybe invite others to finish it.

It all depends on how much it bothers you. Don't fret about it. Don't worry; be Hopi.

 

[SamScribble]

I think it depends on what you mean by 'loose ends'.

I generally like to leave it to the reader to put two and two together. Many readers - perhaps most readers - enjoy doing part of the work themselves. But I think it is reasonably important to ensure that two and two are within the reader's reach. To that end, the author has a responsibility to be at least a little bit tidy.

 

[Jay321]

My opinion is that it depends on the loose ends. Can they be hooks for chap. 2? Are they about a minor character that does add to the story, but their ending really does not? In those cases, I don't think they really matter.

If it is about a major player, and you are done with the story/series, it's time for a nice neat little bow.

 

[TamLin01]

...but first, an anecdote:

Howard Hawks is shooting an adaptation of Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep," and suddenly somebody points out that one of the murders is never solved in the script: Who killed the limo driver? Hawks asks the screenwriters, but they say they don't know. So they go read the book again, butit's not in there either. Finally they cable Chandler and ask, who killed the limo driver? His answer:

"Dammit, I didn't know either."

The thing of it is, "The Big Sleep" was published seven years before the movie. Apparently in all that time, nobody else ever thought to ask...which means probably only a few people ever noticed, if anyone at all.

Now, I don't mean to imply that these things don't matter. Both the book and the movie would technically be better without this oversight. But neither is it the kind of thing you should necessarily lose sleep over. If a solution comes to you organically, go on. If not, I imagine it's possible that forcing the matter might actually hurt the story a bit.

 

[NicoleZ]

When in doubt, go to the proven masters. Toni Morrison never really explains what happened in "Beloved" but leaves the reader hanging with two explanations - either it is supernatural, else Sethe killed her own child. Morrison not only won great acclaim, she is also a Nobel Laureate.

In "Story of My Life", author Jay McInerney leaves the reader with the enigmatic sentence "You always liked them young, Dad" as the only clue to the real story. I remember how 90% of our lit class still refused to believe our professor even when he spelled it out for us.

And then there is the example given by TamLin how for seven years, a major blooper by another acknowledged master went unnoticed.

 

[Sammael Bard]

Depends on how big a loose end it is and whether it's important enough to distract readers. I think a great story does its best to tie it up in its journey towards a conclusion. You can also exploit it to make an interesting spin-off.

Or you may just leave it be and hope nobody notices it. One, two or even three loose ends are acceptable. More than that, and you might have a problem explaining that stuff.

 

[TxRad]

Not to mention that loose ends make for poor erotica.

 

[Kantarii]

Not to mention that loose ends make for poor erotica.

You got that right....hahaha. A corset only looks and feels sexy if it's laced up tight
Kant

Who the hell is going to wear a loose fitting, saggy corset?

 

[8letters]

I think it depends on what you mean by 'loose ends'.

I generally like to leave it to the reader to put two and two together. Many readers - perhaps most readers - enjoy doing part of the work themselves. But I think it is reasonably important to ensure that two and two are within the reader's reach. To that end, the author has a responsibility to be at least a little bit tidy.

I think all stories have loose ends. Never is everything explicitly tied up. Life is too complex for that. So it's a matter of how many and how big of loose ends are you willing to leave unaddressed.

 

[Hypoxia]

I think all stories have loose ends. Never is everything explicitly tied up. Life is too complex for that. So it's a matter of how many and how big of loose ends are you willing to leave unaddressed.

I purposely leave a lot unexplained and unfinished. She sees his scars and tilts her head inquiringly; he shrugs and says, "Just some military stuff." People drive into the distance and I don't say where. She's deciding whether to power-up the drill. Nothing to tie up; events proceed from a murky past to an unknowable future. The story is a dirty window.