How Do You Make A Great Ending?

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

An awful lot of good writers make awful story endings. The Passion of Christ is prolly the best.

Whats your recipe for a good ending?

 

[Swilly]

I don't have a single one. It really depends upon the story, and the truth is that the reader will have their own opinion no matter what the author does.

 

[DesEsseintes]

It has to be well written. That is the 'take away' for the reader. Whether loose ends are tied up or left dangling; whether it's a cliff-hanger, obvious or subtle, matters less than that it is memorably phrased.

The ending of The Road is superb, as is Northern Lights (Golden Compass in the US). Both poetic, memorable, and inspire the imagination. I'd say the ending of the Divine Comedy is possibly the most magnificent, but bathetic endings can work just as well, too, especially those which ironize the previous narrative - think of Sredni Vashtar, for example.

 

[squirrelzo]

Don't forget, "After all, tomorrow is another day!"

100th post

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

To my way of thinking story ends should confirm story premises. Alls well that ends well, and this is no requirement for a happy ending. Plenty of classics end unhappy. Notre Dame de Paris comes to mind. Sophie's Choice. The Winter of our Discontent. The Old Man and the Sea. The list is long.

 

[Swilly]

To my way of thinking story ends should confirm story premises. Alls well that ends well, and this is no requirement for a happy ending. Plenty of classics end unhappy. Notre Dame de Paris comes to mind. Sophie's Choice. The Winter of our Discontent. The Old Man and the Sea. The list is long.

Agreed. Of course, a happy ending doesn't turn a story to shit either. If it works, go ahead and do it. I sometimes feel like HEA stories are scoffed at as being something less than they could be.

 

[FantasyXY]

In my professional writing the ending is always a summary of what was contained in the "story". These types of endings are every bit as boring as the technical crap I am required to write about.

In most of my Lit stories, I like to end with something the reader doesn't expect. Usually this is one of the characters doing or thinking something that seems completely out of character. So it looks like it's the old surprise ending routine for me.

 

[allamagione]

Don't forget, "After all, tomorrow is another day!"

My favorite ever.

I don't like goodbyes, I don't like resolutions, I don't like neatness or cleverness or WTF surprises. Life doesn't work that way. Life is full of ambiguity, and death is the biggest cliffhanger of all. Leave me uneasy, leave me wondering, leave me wanting to know the rest of the story. Leave me unsatisfied, and you'll be on my mind for years to come.

Needless to say, genre fiction doesn't really work for me.

 

[squirrelzo]

You know she's going to get that rapscallion back...or will she???

My favorite ever.

I don't like goodbyes, I don't like resolutions, I don't like neatness or cleverness or WTF surprises. Life doesn't work that way. Life is full of ambiguity, and death is the biggest cliffhanger of all. Leave me uneasy, leave me wondering, leave me wanting to know the rest of the story. Leave me unsatisfied, and you'll be on my mind for years to come.

Needless to say, genre fiction doesn't really work for me.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Agreed. Of course, a happy ending doesn't turn a story to shit either. If it works, go ahead and do it. I sometimes feel like HEA stories are scoffed at as being something less than they could be.

SEABISCUIT was a huge success.

 

[Desiremakesmeweak]

For what it's worth, I watched Casablanca again for the zillionth time the other day... Hadn't watched it for a while though.

You know, people are assholes. Especially those who go around pretending they are atheists.

If you're an atheist - or think you are - watch Casablanca for me, and tell me that you don't believe in Rick.

Casablanca is a very complicated story; much more complicated than people assume that it is.

If you still think you are an atheist after watching Casablanca as a mature adult - especially a mature MALE, then not only are you an asshole, but you are a dumb asshole too.

...Just thought I'd show my true inner feelings this once.

Endings - good ones - are an untying of the knot tied inside the main premise's disclosure in words and action. If the knot is tied on the inner level, or the intellectual level, then its untying is some kind of testament to the brain power of the writer - otherwise the whole thing is false and fake. And there are a lot of false and fake writers around who throw out stories that are banal.

If the knot is tied on the basis of plot or innovative action, then there will be a requirement for some ground-breaking technology or 'hard fact' revelation at the end - and this you see in great science fiction.

The ending is about the premise and the middle and must relate to those; MUST.

Rick (Casablanca) believes in human beings.

And Rick, behaves like JBJ every step of the way. Until the ending. But you can see it coming, and that's the whole point.

Life is about decisions between two hard choices... Thusly - are you, JBJ, an atheist when it comes to Casablanca...?

The End.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

For what it's worth, I watched Casablanca again for the zillionth time the other day... Hadn't watched it for a while though.

You know, people are assholes. Especially those who go around pretending they are atheists.

If you're an atheist - or think you are - watch Casablanca for me, and tell me that you don't believe in Rick.

Casablanca is a very complicated story; much more complicated than people assume that it is.

If you still think you are an atheist after watching Casablanca as a mature adult - especially a mature MALE, then not only are you an asshole, but you are a dumb asshole too.

...Just thought I'd show my true inner feelings this once.

Endings - good ones - are an untying of the knot tied inside the main premise's disclosure in words and action. If the knot is tied on the inner level, or the intellectual level, then its untying is some kind of testament to the brain power of the writer - otherwise the whole thing is false and fake. And there are a lot of false and fake writers around who throw out stories that are banal.

If the knot is tied on the basis of plot or innovative action, then there will be a requirement for some ground-breaking technology or 'hard fact' revelation at the end - and this you see in great science fiction.

The ending is about the premise and the middle and must relate to those; MUST.

Rick (Casablanca) believes in human beings.

And Rick, behaves like JBJ every step of the way. Until the ending. But you can see it coming, and that's the whole point.

Life is about decisions between two hard choices... Thusly - are you, JBJ, an atheist when it comes to Casablanca...?

The End.

Bogart played plenty of gritty roles where his cynical characters jumped in the mire and did the dirty work.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

My favorite ever.

I don't like goodbyes, I don't like resolutions, I don't like neatness or cleverness or WTF surprises. Life doesn't work that way. Life is full of ambiguity, and death is the biggest cliffhanger of all. Leave me uneasy, leave me wondering, leave me wanting to know the rest of the story. Leave me unsatisfied, and you'll be on my mind for years to come.

Needless to say, genre fiction doesn't really work for me.

I've come close to this, at times. There is a story AFTER the story. There's always more. I want my ending to satisfy a resolution to the main conflict of the story. Many readers, however, seem to want more than that. They want a clear sign "Yes, the rest of their lives turned out precisely as you thought it would." I'm not trolling for reads, but my recent Nude Day entry, "Camping on Nude Day" originally had a different ending. Delete everything that follows the final * * * * * and you have the original ending. My editor pushed for me to put a bow on it, so I did.

To answer JBJ's question, resolve the conflict. I think too many stories don't include a focused conflict, so they don't have a clear ending.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I've come close to this, at times. There is a story AFTER the story. There's always more. I want my ending to satisfy a resolution to the main conflict of the story. Many readers, however, seem to want more than that. They want a clear sign "Yes, the rest of their lives turned out precisely as you thought it would." I'm not trolling for reads, but my recent Nude Day entry, "Camping on Nude Day" originally had a different ending. Delete everything that follows the final * * * * * and you have the original ending. My editor pushed for me to put a bow on it, so I did.

To answer JBJ's question, resolve the conflict. I think too many stories don't include a focused conflict, so they don't have a clear ending.

Romeo and Juliet doesn't resolve a conflict.

 

[Serafina1210]

I don't like goodbyes, I don't like resolutions, I don't like neatness or cleverness or WTF surprises. Life doesn't work that way. Life is full of ambiguity, and death is the biggest cliffhanger of all. Leave me uneasy, leave me wondering, leave me wanting to know the rest of the story. Leave me unsatisfied, and you'll be on my mind for years to come.

This is a great formulation, and you can apply it to all kinds of genres. A noir detective novel (so beloved by James) resolves the mystery--you know who done it--but there are plenty of bad guys still at large (including the mayor and the police chief), the world is still a really shitty place, and the detective is often miserable and dysfunctional because of that.

A good romance may deliver to the girl the lover she wanted or needed, but what are her real prospects for happiness? How's life going to be with that broken-down remnant of Mr. Rochester? There's a disconnect between the way we know the world works and the way the romance world works that leaves us uneasy.

 

[callmeismael]

This is a great formulation, and you can apply it to all kinds of genres. A noir detective novel (so beloved by James) resolves the mystery--you know who done it--but there are plenty of bad guys still at large (including the mayor and the police chief), the world is still a really shitty place, and the detective is often miserable and dysfunctional because of that.

A good romance may deliver to the girl the lover she wanted or needed, but what are her real prospects for happiness? How's life going to be with that broken-down remnant of Mr. Rochester? There's a disconnect between the way we know the world works and the way the romance world works that leaves us uneasy.

For me this is exactly what I like in an ending. Put another way, you want to give the reader/viewer the resolution that the they thought they wanted, but then show them that this resolution is a lot more complex and unsatisfying than they thought it would be.

The worst endings are those in which the characters get everything they want without consequences. If the character has made tough choices, those choices need to have lasting repercussions, and can't be undone by a deus ex machina or by another device.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

For me this is exactly what I like in an ending. Put another way, you want to give the reader/viewer the resolution that the they thought they wanted, but then show them that this resolution is a lot more complex and unsatisfying than they thought it would be.

The worst endings are those in which the characters get everything they want without consequences. If the character has made tough choices, those choices need to have lasting repercussions, and can't be undone by a deus ex machina or by another device.

You cant unring bells.

 

[allamagione]

This is a great formulation, and you can apply it to all kinds of genres. A noir detective novel (so beloved by James) resolves the mystery--you know who done it--but there are plenty of bad guys still at large (including the mayor and the police chief), the world is still a really shitty place, and the detective is often miserable and dysfunctional because of that.

A good romance may deliver to the girl the lover she wanted or needed, but what are her real prospects for happiness? How's life going to be with that broken-down remnant of Mr. Rochester? There's a disconnect between the way we know the world works and the way the romance world works that leaves us uneasy.

I've never finished a romance novel feeling uneasy. It's hard to remain emotionally invested in happy characters.

 

[Serafina1210]

I've never finished a romance novel feeling uneasy. It's hard to remain emotionally invested in happy characters.

Happiness is fragile. A medieval romance often ends with a reminder that the couple will get old and die anyway, and many others with reminders of the price the characters have paid for their happiness.

But you're probably right about a lot of pop romance.

 

[HeyAll]

What I like to do for endings is to conclude the story, but at the same time, give the reader signals the story is still continuing.

For instance, a character might say, "Why don't we _____. I've always wanted to try that."

The other character would smile and say that it's a great idea. Then they're off to do sometimes, or to explore something new.

The end.

 

[sr71plt]

A good ending for me is one that gives an extra twist to the tail of the story and is both logical and surprising.

 

[49greg]

A good ending for me is one that gives an extra twist to the tail of the story and is both logical and surprising.

I agree. I also prefer an ending that if not happy for the main character(s) is at least Just.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Everyone dies in the end. Even John.

 

[StrangeLife]

An awful lot of good writers make awful story endings. The Passion of Christ is prolly the best.

Whats your recipe for a good ending?

As I see it, there are basically two different kinds of stories on Lit: Strokers and non-strokers. Therefore there are two different answers.

People who reads stroker stories hate surprises and plot twists, so in that case a good ending is the standard fare of "pulsing pussies" and "throbbing cocks." If you introduce a surprise ending that breaks the mold they'll loose their erections and blame you.

People who read non-strokers on the other hand are more focused on story and to them the occasional pumping balls is just one part of the tale. They are reading for entertainment, and nothing is more entertaining that the unexpected. Thus they appreciate plot twists and surprises.

In my opinion writing stroker-stories is only marginally more entertaining than watching C-SPAN, so I agree with Pilot - for an ending to be good there has to be something in it that the reader didn't anticipate. Whether it should be sad or happy depends on the story, but above all it should never be predictable.

 

[SecondCircle]

For what it's worth, I watched Casablanca again for the zillionth time the other day... Hadn't watched it for a while though.

You know, people are assholes. Especially those who go around pretending they are atheists.

If you're an atheist - or think you are - watch Casablanca for me, and tell me that you don't believe in Rick.

Casablanca is a very complicated story; much more complicated than people assume that it is.

If you still think you are an atheist after watching Casablanca as a mature adult - especially a mature MALE, then not only are you an asshole, but you are a dumb asshole too.

...Just thought I'd show my true inner feelings this once.

Endings - good ones - are an untying of the knot tied inside the main premise's disclosure in words and action. If the knot is tied on the inner level, or the intellectual level, then its untying is some kind of testament to the brain power of the writer - otherwise the whole thing is false and fake. And there are a lot of false and fake writers around who throw out stories that are banal.

If the knot is tied on the basis of plot or innovative action, then there will be a requirement for some ground-breaking technology or 'hard fact' revelation at the end - and this you see in great science fiction.

The ending is about the premise and the middle and must relate to those; MUST.

Rick (Casablanca) believes in human beings.

And Rick, behaves like JBJ every step of the way. Until the ending. But you can see it coming, and that's the whole point.

Life is about decisions between two hard choices... Thusly - are you, JBJ, an atheist when it comes to Casablanca...?

The End.

You had my curiosity, now you have my attention.

Exactly how is Casablanca supposed to make me religious?