The End is Near

Hello again, Starlight. I’m back with more writing advice to toss into the void. Today’s topic is about:

…drum roll, please?…

Endings!

We writers long for them. Crave them. We strive tirelessly reaching with longing fingers toward the light shining down from them. And we dread them.

Yes.

We dread writing our endings. Sometimes, it is because we are worried about not knowing what to do with ourselves when we suddenly finish the project which has consumed every ounce of our souls for however long we worked on it. If that is the case, my best advice to you is that you make a point to maintain a writing/life balance as you work on your project, so that when the time comes for you to step away from writing, you still have the rest of your life ready to pick up the slack and carry you onward until the next inspiration bug bites. 

But sometimes, we dread writing it, simply because endings are hard.

And the prospect of messing it up is scary.

This is especially true considering how many really successful stories we all know of from pop culture left us quite thoroughly unsatisfied. If it can happen to the best of us, what chance do we lowly aspiring writers think we have?

Well, for starters, if we are observant, we can learn from the mistakes of our titan brethren. I will not mention names or delve into any specific stories with unsatisfying endings, or wax poetic about what they did wrong. This is not that kind of blog, and if you’re looking for a list of things not to do, the internet is positively brimming with content for you. Simply type into your search engine: How not to write a bad ending. Or something of the sort. And boom! You will have all sorts of suggestions falling into your lap.

But I always find it far more useful if my road map tells me where to go, instead of listing all the places I don’t want to go. So that is what I will focus on here.

To write a good ending, I propose using these 10 key points as a checklist for success.

1: Does it satisfy the promise you made to readers in the beginning regarding the primary theme of the narrative?

This doesn’t mean you have to give them the happy ending they want, but it does mean that the story needs to be about what you let people think it was going to be about. It has to honor the theme set up in the opening act, and follow naturally from the progression of that theme. For example: if you introduce a nasty antagonist in the start of the story, but then you venture off and write about something completely different, and we never see this antagonist reappear, people will be left feeling like something is missing. To avoid doing this, it is helpful to keep your theme firmly in mind as you write. If, at any point in your journey, you realize your theme has shifted, it might not be a bad idea to go back to your beginning and figure out how to adjust it to set readers up for this new direction from the start. Or, if that is not an option for you, steer your narrative back on course. The way you start your story will have a big impact on the kind of ending people will expect.

2: Does it match the tone of the story?

In short, if the story is nitty gritty, give it a nitty gritty ending. If the story is light and comedic, keep the ending relatively light. If your story covers a range of emotional dynamics, consider the place your characters are in at the end, and write what works best for them in this moment. For example: if someone died, your characters will feel that loss. Show it. If your characters pulled through against all odds, maybe show the disbelief and relief and maybe even a few tears. Unreasonably happy endings after a difficult plot are harsh on readers, just like overly dramatic endings will come across as offputting for a story which has not focused heavily on drama up to that point.

3: Are you clearly showing real consequences to the characters for their actions?

Stories without consequences are hollow. They lack tension, and leave readers with a lack of urgency and ultimately, meaning. Endings are very much the same way. Without real consequences to the characters at the end, people are left wondering why they bothered with the story at all. So if your characters face losses or make bad choices, if people died, or lives were ruined, if your characters grew or changed at all, for better or worse, it is vital that you show readers what this means for them moving forward. This can be a positive thing or a negative thing. The character learned a valuable lesson, and it shows. But they also made mistakes, and they have to live with that. Often, the best endings are a mix of positive and negative consequences. The point is that the events in the story have to mean something. And that means consequences.

4: Does it feel earned?

Do the characters get what they should get? No, I’m not saying the bad guy gets what’s coming and the hero is ultimately victorious just because they are the good guy. No. I am saying that, based on the events in the story, and the choices characters made, is the ending for these characters a good fit? If you have a character run out on his or her family to go fight monsters and the family is very upset with them for doing this, having the character come home and everyone acts like no one’s feelings were hurt by what the character did, that does not feel earned. But let's say you want that happy ending. If this is the case, you need to weigh your character’s actions against that ending as you go. By all means, hurt them, and let them make bad choices. But don’t sabotage the specific flavor of happiness you are aiming for. In the case of the happy reunion with the family, the easiest way to get that is to make sure that, when your hero heads off to fight monsters, it is with the full support and understanding of the family. 

5: Is there a clear resolution?

Make sure to tie up all your plot and side plot points in a nice bow. No loose ends. The main conflict of the story is clearly resolved. The bad guy is defeated, or the bag guy wins. The disaster is over and the characters survived to the end. The championship is over and we know who won. Even with a cliffhanger ending, it needs to be clear that this installment’s story arch is fulfilled. Resolution is the answer to the equation. The period at the end of the sentence. It is very important.

6: Was there proper setup for this ending so it is not simply out of nowhere?

Whatever happens in the final conflict and immediately after, it has to be properly set up. If your hero uses a special power they just unlocked, we have seen hints of this power peaking through earlier on. If someone comes in and saves the main characters from doom, we were given something to go off of to hint at this happening. The mystery that it solves has a clear trail of breadcrumbs that, even if not apparent to begin with, are really clear in hindsight. Set your readers up for the ending you give them.

7: Do we get a glimpse of life after the conflict?

Yes. We want to know how the characters are doing after the dust settles. Who moves on and heals from the trauma? Who isn’t coping well? Who has decided to take a whole new path in life after the events changed how they saw themselves? Who is trying to atone? Who wants revenge? Who is successful and happy? Who isn’t? No need to go into depth with this. It could be a simple line of dialogue, mentioning how a character is doing. Or a sentence in a quick summary of events. It doesn’t have to be a lot to satisfy the readers, but it has to be there.

8: Is it brief?

This might be the most challenging part. With so many things to cover in the ending, finding a way to condense it all is a real challenge. But remember: after the conflict is resolved, the driving force of tension, which up until that point, had your readers turing pages, is gone. They will lose interest quickly, so you need to give them what they want without droning on too long about it.

9: Does it feel sincere and realistic to the world it takes place in?

In other words, are the characters in character? Do the decisions and consequences at the end feel natural for the world they happen in? Are celebrations appropriate for this ending? Do we see grief over losses, even if only briefly? Do the emotions portrayed here, both positive and negative, feel real and right for the situation after all is said and done? Always remember, people put themselves into the heads of the characters they love the most. If they can’t imagine themselves thinking or acting or saying the things you have your characters say at the end, then it won’t work. Keep your characters authentic, even if it means sacrificing a bit of the ideal ending you initially visualized to get there.

10: Is there a cyclic element to it, which echoes back to how it all started?

It always helps to harken back to the events in the beginning. People like nice neat little circles in the stories they read. This doesn’t mean everything is exactly like it was in the beginning, but it does mean we see something of an echo of the beginning in the end. It means what was set up in the opening act can be seen again in a new light. We made a promise, and now we kept it. Huh. That sounds a lot like the first item on the checklist. Yep. See what I did there?

That’s it. My big ten points to hit. Will it guarantee a successful ending? No. I can’t promise that. But it will make the odds of hitting it out of the park far better. And hopefully, they will make the prospect of writing your ending just a little bit less scary.

Until next time, Starlight.

Dream big, and happy writing.