What kind of an ending do you like?

eldragon · Aug 22, 2006

So, I'm making serious progress on my second book; this ones a novel based on true events.

My problem is :how do I end it?

On an uplifting, happy note?

Tragically?

A moving, emotional finale?

Just pick a place in time and make the story end there - leaving the reader wanting more?

I don't read much fiction, and I'm stymied.

What kind of endings do you fiction readers like to see?

MidnightMuse · Aug 22, 2006

I like a logical ending, one that makes perfect sense considering the story.

I'm not trying to be trite, seriously. I think as a general rule, I'll appreciate any ending that logically concludes the story I've just read. If it's tragic, and brings a tear to my eye, but flows with the story and makes sense, then that's great. If it's happy, same rule applies.

I like an ending that leaves me wanting more, but it had better do that carefully - and by that I mean leave me satisfied, but hoping to visit the characters again. I despise cliff-hanger endings!

Let's just say I don't set OUT to read something that'll end tragically, but if it makes sense, I won't curse the author. Of course that'll pretty much negate your need for leaving them wanting more

Serena Casey · Aug 22, 2006

My sister is funny - she won't read a book or watch a movie unless she knows the ending is happy. (She has "issues.")

I don't want to know ahead of time, but I enjoy a happy ending the most. Real life is depressing enough sometimes; I read to escape. JMO.

Simon Woodhouse · Aug 22, 2006

I like poignant endings, something that might seem sad at first, but upon reflection is actually just right. The end of The Grapes of Wrath springs to mind.

Writing Jedi · Aug 22, 2006

Logically, I sometimes think that a happy ending is soooo common and therefore trite. But, emotionally, as a reader/viewer? I am a sucker for a happy ending. LOL. I like the thought of there being tragic, sad endings out there. I just don't want to read them.

scribbler1382 · Aug 22, 2006

Maybe I missed something, but if the book's based on true events, isn't the ending already mapped out for you?

eldragon · Aug 22, 2006

Maybe I missed something, but if the book's based on true events, isn't the ending already mapped out for you?

Not really.

Look at it like a David Sedaris book : it's based loosely on his life and covers a period time.

Since it will be fiction, but I'm drawing experiences from life, I'm trying to figure out where I should aim the ending at.

I know where it needs to end at, but I'm grappling with how the reader should feel when they get there.

LightShadow · Aug 22, 2006

I tend to like the kind of endings that pits the protagonist against a situation that seems impossible to escape from, and something from earlier in the story, an item or character easily forgotten, yet remembered when they reappear at the end, enables them to narrowly escape unscathed.

eldragon · Aug 22, 2006

Hmm. That's something to think about.

Thanks!

KTC · Aug 22, 2006

It depends on my mood.

I will go for months reading Naguib Mahfouz novels just for the thrill of the 'it couldn't get any worse than it is..but then BANG it does' ending. Nobody alive or dead could possibly write a sadder more depressed and hopeless ending than Mahfouz. That's why I love him so!

Then I get all squishy and romantic and run for Anne Rice's Feast of All Saints..for that perfect 'It's gonna rain sunshine tomorrow!' ending. That ending SO takes me away!

I guess, for me, it depends on the rest of the book. I like it all to make sense.

And not to SLAP YOUR HAND...but YOU HAVE TO READ FICTION TO WRITE IT!!!!!! (There. I said it.) Read. Read. Read. And then read some more.

KTC · Aug 22, 2006

eldragon said:
but I'm grappling with how the reader should feel when they get there.

I like to put down a book and heave a hugh sigh. Sedaris actually does that. He can make you laugh out a spleen...but then, I find you get that heavy sigh just as you're putting the book down...like you don't want to put it down. Leave your reader wanting more...not quite finished, but at a finish.

maestrowork · Aug 22, 2006

A satisfying ending.

That means it must be true to the story you're telling. If it's Romeo and Juliet, let them die. If it's Schindler's List, offer some hope. I don't need or want everything to be tied up nicely and neatly with a bow. I don't need happily ever after, but give me a real ending. And give me great characters that live BEFORE and AFTER these pages. That's what Kevin said: It's not quite finished, but the story is done.

Don't leave it dangling, but do let it linger.

That said, I am a cockeyed optimist. I like to be uplifted. I hate a total downer story with a total downer ending, unless I REALLY learn something from it -- then again, I don't usually read fiction to learn something. If I want to see suffering, I'll turn on the news. I have read stories like that and they're so depressing. And so sadistic in a way -- how low can you make your readers feel?

That's just me.

TheIT · Aug 22, 2006

I'm a firm believer in happy endings, but the characters have to work for it.

John61480 · Aug 22, 2006

I love endings with a Twilight Zone twist. The kind that makes you say WTF?-was that for real? I never get enough of those. As a matter of fact, M.Night Shymalan is pretty good at those too. I actually bought a Rod Serling short story collection that featured a few stories from Richard Matheson. He has a pretty good knack of these kind of twists in his own plots.

I've never read a book with a depressing ending though, you know, one that makes you blue with melancholy and a little misty eyed.

Scrawler · Aug 22, 2006

A realistic but hopeful one. If it ends on a sad note, I'd like to get a sense that there's hope for better days and the characters have grown enough during the story to get there.
I'm usually disappointed when the story magically comes together on the last 2 pages for a happy ending, especially when I don't feel the charcters deserved it- if there's been no struggle, no drama, no growth, just a winning lottery ticket.

RedWombat · Aug 22, 2006

Happy endings. Yeah, it's probably shallow and trite of me, but there y'are--if I want a realistic ending, I'll watch the news. *grin*

littlewriter · Aug 22, 2006

a happy ending. i read books to escape the "sad endings" of real life. although it has to be logical too, and completely believable. i hate books that leave you hanging and don't really come to a proper conclusion.

eldragon · Aug 22, 2006

Good answers!

And not to SLAP YOUR HAND...but YOU HAVE TO READ FICTION TO WRITE IT!!!!!! (There. I said it.) Read. Read. Read. And then read some more.

Well, I read all non-fiction - memoirs and stuff like that. So maybe it won't be fiction.

DamaNegra · Aug 22, 2006

My favorite endings always cause this reaction on me:

*stares*

...

*stares some more*

...

*throws self out the window*

Works better if I'm on the first floor, too.

C.bronco · Aug 22, 2006

I liked the original ending in Hannibal, and was really ticked when they wimped out in the movie. I like the "picaresque" ending... the anti-hero, who had become sympathetic, wins for a change.

MadScientistMatt · Aug 22, 2006

I would say give it an honest ending. It needs to resolve the major question or problem, even if there are some loose ends left untied. And it is one that follows from the consequences of characters' actions. They may succeed or they may (literally or figuratively) die trying, but there is no unexpected inheiritance or cavalry showing up from out of nowhere to save the day, and nothing else that would make me think, "Oh, like that would happen!"

Some stories get happy endings. Others need terrible endings, and anything else would not fit the story. It wouldn't have been the right ending to have Moby Dick dead, lasked to the Pequod with Captain Ahab dancing on his head, or Macbeth vanquishing all challengers to hold onto the throne.

Snitchcat · Aug 22, 2006

Satisfactory ending -- every time.

It means the ending has to fit with the story -- it ties up the loose ends (unless you're writing the first or middle books in a series, then the series' arc is still going) and follows logically from the setup and expansion.

IMO, give the story its due and end as it should. I believe readers will accept it, regardless of preferences for happy or sad, or somewhere in the middle.

P.S. If I'm short-changed at the end, the author goes on my 'black list'. And I will recommend my friends Not to read said author. (^_^)

sunandshadow · Aug 22, 2006

Happy endings - preferably also an ending which suggests a hopeful, interesting future for the story character or world. I like start of a new era/dynasty/adventure endings. I also like 'cirlce of life' endings if they are presented positively.

ChaosTitan · Aug 22, 2006

I don't care if it's happy, sad, or slit-my-wrists depressing, as long as it serves the story and the characters.

I read a book earlier this year in which the main character died. I was super annoyed and ready to curse the author, until I kept reading and realized that he had to die.

expatbrat · Aug 23, 2006

I like happy endings. And I usually read the back page to check it will be one (I know I know, that was very brave of me to admit that here).

If it is not happy, then I want the characters to learn something, something they (and we) can take away from the story so the next time that same thing happens, we know more and can have a happy ending next time.

I don't have issues (well - not lots) but I just like reading stuff that makes me feel good, not stuff that brings me down. There is enough of that in real life.

What kind of an ending do you like?

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