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How do you know when to end your stories/when your stories end?
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Well, I'm not one to kill the protagonist because I'm a fan of happy endings, but...
...when the central question has been answered, the climax is over and done with, and all the loose ends are tied in a neat-ish bow, that's when I know it's over. And that's when I scramble for a snazzy last line.
...when the central question has been answered, the climax is over and done with, and all the loose ends are tied in a neat-ish bow, that's when I know it's over. And that's when I scramble for a snazzy last line.
There's a sense of 'rightness' to an end, for me. (Trilogies aside), your main plot is resolved, and any 'itching questions' have been answered, and hopefully I have some last paragraph or sentence which works as a strong final statement.
I will, for my own personal enjoyment, sometimes write a chapter or more past the end, in a 'what happens to them next' kind of way, but I don't consider that part of the novel, or a useful epilogue.
I will, for my own personal enjoyment, sometimes write a chapter or more past the end, in a 'what happens to them next' kind of way, but I don't consider that part of the novel, or a useful epilogue.
I tend to hate stories where the protagonist dies, so I can't go by that.
But it's pretty simple. I know my story ends when whatever problem I set up in the opening chapter has been solved, or when whatever question I asked in the opening chapter has been answered, or both.
It can be a going with the gut feeling kind of moment. Do I care what happens to the characters beyond this point? And if I do care, is that a whole new story or just some loose ends to tie up here? Do these specific loose ends actually need tied up?
To paraphrase Hitchcock, fiction is life with all the boring bits taken out. So it's simples.
My story ends when the exciting stuff stops.
My story ends when the exciting stuff stops.
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You know all those conflicts you set up? That main point of contention that everything in the book, in one way or another, points to?
Well, as soon as those are resolved, you've got a few pages to tie up any loose ends and then that's it. The End.
Well, as soon as those are resolved, you've got a few pages to tie up any loose ends and then that's it. The End.
You know all those conflicts you set up? That main point of contention that everything in the book, in one way or another, points to?
Well, as soon as those are resolved, you've got a few pages to tie up any loose ends and then that's it. The End.
That's it.
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You know all those conflicts you set up? That main point of contention that everything in the book, in one way or another, points to?
Well, as soon as those are resolved, you've got a few pages to tie up any loose ends and then that's it. The End.
Agreed
If it's a tragedy, that probably will be the protagonist's death but otherwise...it tends to feel a bit forced.
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I'm still working it out - my first two books were easy, because I knew the "punchlines" that I wanted to end on. First was after the protagonist died to give people enough of an idea that she might not be dead, second was basically to make people go "WTF!?!?!?!" and go crazybananas.
Third...the two last chapters will be resolving a relationship, and finishing off a plot thread from earlier in the book. At least that's what I think, I'm nowhere near the end yet, so it may change.
Third...the two last chapters will be resolving a relationship, and finishing off a plot thread from earlier in the book. At least that's what I think, I'm nowhere near the end yet, so it may change.
You know all those conflicts you set up? That main point of contention that everything in the book, in one way or another, points to?
Well, as soon as those are resolved, you've got a few pages to tie up any loose ends and then that's it. The End.
Ditto.
I never know in advance of stating what my end is going to be.
However, as I write I get an idea of the end, and i sort of trail along after it.
However, as I write I get an idea of the end, and i sort of trail along after it.
My stories end when I have nothing to add. I just add a one or two page resolution when I feel that the journeys of the characters have come to an end, and then I write THE END, but of course that's only happened once, with my Out of Control series.
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I knew the second I planned out the quartet. I knew I'd have four story arches because that's how long it's going to take to tell the story.
If I consider anything else, I don't think it's fair to the readers.
If I consider anything else, I don't think it's fair to the readers.
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So you kill off your protagonists at the end too, huh? xP
A lot of people here mentioned when the main conflict/questions etc are answered. But what if you were writing something less plot-based and more literary? What if your point was that the questions that matter often remain unanswered, the things you may want to do, remain undone, the problems you want to solve, not really solved at all. In other words, how do you think you would you know when to end a story that challenges/defies your "typical" structure?
One example of what I mean might be Catcher in the Rye.
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Cather in the Rye isn't any more open-ended than any other novel, it merely puts in print what is assumed in other novels.
All stories are, by nature, incomplete, and life is always full of unanswered questions. Taken to the logical extreme, all stories, as Hemingway said, end in death.
Even if your question is "what are the answers", and if you answer is "There are no answers", you still must have a story between the two points, or all you really have is, as one editor put it, "A typical M.F.A reject." Catcher in teh Rye had a full, complete story, and a resolved plot, between question and answer.
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Plenty of literary works also end with the resolution of the main conflict. However, in the case you refer to, I would say it ends at the point we realize (and/or the character/s realize) that the problem will remain unsolved -- when a crisis that could have created resolution has failed to do so. THE SUN ALSO RISES is a pretty prime example of this.
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Exactly. We know their life continues beyond the pages but unless you're writing a generational piece you will decide which part of their life you want to focus on and end it when a particular challenge, problem, period of danger, goal etc. is concluded.
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