Trick ending cheapness

RG570 · Oct 27, 2006

As I come to the end of my current novel, I'm beginning to worry that it might be heading for a cheap trick ending. It seems to me that there's a fine line between a stupid trick ending and an unexpected resolution.

Without getting into detail, let's just say that the ending I have planned out results in a paradox that nobody would expect.

I'm just not sure how to judge a bad trick ending from a legitimate unexpected one. Can anyone give examples of stupid trick endings? Can an ending that comes out of left field still be satisfying?

CaroGirl · Oct 27, 2006

I think it all comes down to reader reaction. If the reader groans at the end, or feels cheated, it's not a satisfying experience and the reader won't enjoy your book as a whole if he's disappointed in your ending.

A cheap trick, to me, involves an ending that couldn't have been predicted no matter how the reader puzzled through the clues. (I don't know your genre.) And I think it has to be plausible.

Some of it has to do with how you write it, too. Anything can be done if it's done well. You might need a beta to guage reader reaction to your ending.

Bottom line: If you think you're cheating your reader, you probably are.

Bartholomew · Oct 27, 2006

The ending to the story should be like a menacing monolith looming--no, GLARING at you from the horizon. The reader needs to know that the end will arrive--they should dread it; they need to see some vague outline of what is to come.

(I write horror, so insert fluffy bunnies and rainbows where appropriate.)

But you never drive up to a monolith that WAS in the horizon, only to find out that it is a large turnip.

I hope my analogy is clear.

rugcat · Oct 27, 2006

The ideal ending, esp in mysteries, etc, is the one where the reader never sees it coming - but, when revealed, it seems inevitable. You want the reader to smack his/her forehead and think, “Of course! How could I have not seen that?”

It's not easy; there's a fine line between the painfully obvious and the "huh, what?" reaction. Just like there's a fine line between a deep universal truth and a greeting card. (With apologies to card writers)

It’s almost like clues in a crossword puzzle. Bad clues, when you finally get them, disappoint and make you not want to finish the puzzle. Good clues provide that same moment of revelation - after struggling, when you finally get it, you can’t believe how obvious the answer is. Same forehead smack.

kuatolives · Oct 27, 2006

end every book with a giant explosion and you can't go wrong.

Vincent · Oct 27, 2006

Was it all a dream?

icerose · Oct 27, 2006

beezle said:
Was it all a dream?

I have one sort of like this but it is part of her psychosis and it's just the first half of the story. I am delaying writing it because I'm not sure how audiences would take it as I strongly believe in the story and the characters and such and don't want to cheapen the experience just because that's the way I first invisioned it, and it is vital to the second part in which she doesn't believe what is happening is real, she believes it's her psychosis flaring up again when she really is in danger.

Bartholomew · Oct 27, 2006

beezle said:
Was it all a dream?

IMO, you can only give us a Taoist ending ("Was I dreaming I was the butterfly, or did it dream that it was me?") if you set the narrator up to be unrealiable, or can otherwise explain and justify what happened.

greglondon · Oct 27, 2006

I'm just not sure how to judge a bad trick ending from a legitimate unexpected one. Can anyone give examples of stupid trick endings? Can an ending that comes out of left field still be satisfying?

Well, there's the ending out of left field, and then there's trick endings and unexpected ones.

Left field can be good. See "Sixth Sense". That was out of left field for most viewers. But the reason it worked, I think, is because the trick ending was like a bonus to the already existing good story. The story is going along without the trick ending adn its a pretty good story. If you didn't have that trick ending, it still would have been a good story. the trick ending was icing on the cake. If all you got is icing and no cake, it might not go over too well.

examples of stupid trick endings: hm.
Alice and Bob are trying to stop the evil doers from destroying the world. They are captured by the evil doers. all looks lost. Then the cavalry (space marines, special forces, cia operatives) arrive and save the day.

It's stupid if the story is about Alice and Bob stopping the bad guy, and they don't actually stop teh bad guy, they almost lose to the bad guy, and then someone completely unrelated to anythign that's happened so far in the story comes in and saves the day. Basically, the story is Alice and Bob fail. THe cavalry has to save them and the world. If that's the way it ends, then the story should be about the cavalry stopping the bad guy, not Alice and Bob failing to stop the bad guy.

If your ending has nothing to do with the main characters were up to accomplishing, then you may have a problem.

wordmonkey · Oct 27, 2006

I'm usually very good at figuring out the "whodunit-esque" conclusions. But whatever the case even if I only work it out an instant before, or even at the same time as the protag, I want to be able to think back and think, "so THAT'S what that meant."

If you suddenly throw in something I never saw before, completely out of left field, I feel llike you cheated me. I never had a chance to work it out, because hid a vital fact from me.

We won't be playing together anymore if you do that to me.

All I need are a couple of clues. Even if I don't catch them I know they were there and then you've flipped it. You beat me and I want a rematch.

RG570 · Oct 27, 2006

No, it wasn't a dream, and it doesn't involve a deus ex machina or anything like that.

It ends on an ontological riff, I guess. Something mind blowing about why the events leading up to the end of the story happened. I mean, the plot itself resolves organically, it's just that this is the last little bit of information that I give that sort of ties everything together. Sort of like the sixth sense but not really.

Oh, it's science fiction, by the way. So I'm dealing with a conflict between a group of humans and what they perceive as an alien threat, which is where the mind blowing, potentially cheap ending comes from.

illiterwrite · Oct 27, 2006

One thing I've learned in this process is to always trust your gut. If your instinct tells you the ending is "cheap," then it probably is.

One ending I consider a "cheap trick" is My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult, if you've read that. I don't want to give away the ending for those who haven't read it, but I felt it was used to just shock the reader and do it for the sake of doing something unexpected.

Siddow · Oct 27, 2006

I recently read a book that had one of those left-field endings. All through it, the good guys were pursuing a certain bad guy, but in the end, the bad guy turned out to be a good guy, and the actual bad guy was...someone never mentioned before.

Bleh.

But I love endings that surprise me in that "Doh!" smack-the-forehead way. Completely unexpected, yet inevitable. Small clues can help you pull it off, planted early and deep.

RG570 · Oct 27, 2006

Trusting your gut is good, but when you're as insecure as I am, you don't always know when it's your gut talking or the insecurity.

wordmonkey · Oct 27, 2006

RG570 said:
Trusting your gut is good, but when you're as insecure as I am, you don't always know when it's your gut talking or the insecurity.

Then find some readers and see what the concensus is.

gp101 · Oct 27, 2006

greglondon said:
Left field can be good. See "Sixth Sense". That was out of left field for most viewers. But the reason it worked, I think, is because the trick ending was like a bonus to the already existing good story. The story is going along without the trick ending adn its a pretty good story. If you didn't have that trick ending, it still would have been a good story. the trick ending was icing on the cake. If all you got is icing and no cake, it might not go over too well.

**SPOILER ALERT**

The ending to Sixth Sense may have appeared to be out of left field, but the reason it worked and seemed (extremely) satisfying is because of the quick montage recapping specific scenes we've already seen in the movie where the Bruce Willis character is supposedly talking to his wife and dealing with the boy seeing ghosts; in the context of the montage we learn that Willis was the ghost himself. A million jaws drop at the same time. But it works because all the info was set up earlier in the story.

If you're going for the trick ending just set the pieces up earlier in the story. Don't make them obvious, but if you can turn those scenes on their head at the end, your trick ending works. And if you're as good as M KNight Schamalian (SP??), you'll be cursed with the fact that audiences will look for trick endings in your future works, making it more difficult to surprise them.

Avoid the dream endings and Deux Ex Machina as has been stated. Most of those endings seem hack.

aghast · Oct 27, 2006

does the trick ending make sense and is it satisfyhing and did you leave enough crumbs so that when the readers read it a second time they will say ah ha i should have seen it coming, or would it be like wtf it comes from the left field and still doesnt make sense - for example the trick ending of the sixth sense makes sense and its integral part of the story and when you see it a second time you see all the clues they have left you, it's not a trick for tricks sake

aghast · Oct 27, 2006

gp101 said:
**SPOILER ALERT**

The ending to Sixth Sense may have appeared to be out of left field, but the reason it worked and seemed (extremely) satisfying is because of the quick montage recapping specific scenes we've already seen in the movie...

the same thing with illustionist or the prestige, they recap all the key twists in montages at the end so you know there are all kinds of clues and the trick ending is only a trick because you did not know it coming but now if you see the films again you know exactly what is happening and it all makes sense - when done well trick endings are the best becuase it makes the readers go and read the book over and over again to see if they can catch it and they love the story even more because of that

Oddsocks · Oct 28, 2006

There may be no clear answer here. One series I know of has a completely unexpected twist at the end which most people I've talked to about it find amazing and powerful and still in keeping with the story. But I have one friend who said they thought the ending was a cheap cop out. So, I guess unexpected endings can be interpreted either way.

So all you can really do is write it the way it should be to you, and then review it - if you decide it doesn't work and comes off as cheap (or if all your beta readers do), then you can change your mind about it.

Generally, I love twist/out of the blue endings, but not if there has been no inkling whatsoever about it prior.

Tracy · Oct 28, 2006

I think that you set up a contract with the reader. As a writer, you get to set the terms of the contract (e.g. do aliens exist? Super powers? You decide if they exist in the world of your book, and declare that early). The reader has the choice whether or not to accept those terms by choosing to read or not read the book. Once the contract has been agreed upon, however, it's a sacred contract, and must not be broken.

Therefore cheap endings which break the contract are an absolute no-no. If you want a surprise ending, you must as other posters have said, sprinkle the clues beforehand. The reader must do the forehead-slapping thing. If they feel cheated, they are.

I used to be quite a fan of John Grisham. Until I read one of his books, I think it was called The Partner. The twist at the end of that was just so plain WRONG that I still feel manipulated and cheated and let down to this day (and that was a few years ago! I don't mean it's ruined my life or anything! But I'm still aware of it). And I've never read another Grisham book again. I just don't trust him now.

You see, the reader has to trust the writer (that contract again), and to feel safe believing this stuff - if that's betrayed, it's huge.

So make sure the clues to your ending are strewn throughout the story. Make them as hidden and subtle as you can, of course. But have them there.

moth · Oct 28, 2006

Revisions is where you make your ending the unexpected and cool rather than cheap. Plant clues -- subtlely, but clearly there -- early and deep (like a pp said). Structure like that is part of what makes a book good on the first read, and also on second and subsequent readings when you discover things you completely missed the first time through but are undeniably well-done.

PeeDee · Oct 28, 2006

Sometimes, endings come out of left field that weren't nearly as hinted at as they were in The Sixth Sense. I'm referring to "The Prestige" but I dearly don't want to give away the magnificant ending to a magnificant movie, so those of you who have seen it, you can just guess what I mean.

I do not like endings that go for that one, final, extra thrill. Everyone's happy and hugging and everything and -- SUDDENLY, the one dinosaur they didn't kill EXPLODES out of the rubble and none of them have their guns except -- Little Susie has picked up daddy's gun and kills the dinosaur in one kill.......and then the happy ending resumes.

Don't do that.

Sometimes, the ending has a twist that is inevitable, but which you just don't want to happen. You KNOW it's going to happen, but you hate it, but you keep reading.

Sometimes, twist endings work wonderfully. The ending to "Secret Window" (the Steve King story, or the wonderful David Koepp movie) was magnificant.

Even the wretched "And she woke up and it was all a dream." Ending can work, but I wouldn't try it because mostly you'll piss people off.

Marlowe · Oct 28, 2006

PeeDee said:
Sometimes, twist endings work wonderfully. The ending to "Secret Window" (the Steve King story, or the wonderful David Koepp movie) was magnificant.

I thought it was pretty horrible myself. The Stephen King story was decent, but the movie basically reduced the most interesting aspect of it- namely that writers can actually key into something more powerful than themselves without even knowing it- and turned it into yet another variation on a crummy, crummy theme. Johnny Depp was fun, but other than that, it was lame.

I think the worst twist endings are one's that feel like a joke is being played on the reader or viewer for following along with the story. Like, "Oh, you may have cared about all of this, but ta-da! It's meaningless!" The Prestige works brilliantly because it's "twists" reinforce themes established from the very beginning of the film; also, there's never any doubt watching it that there will be some sort of reveal by the end. Other stories- like, say, Identity or High Tension, or to a lesser extent a certain Dennis Lehane novel (that isn't Mystic River)- seem to be all about alienating their audiences from the process of storytelling. I acutally enjoy getting to like characters, thanks, I'd rather not be punished for that. (Which is why I'm sort of on the fence about that Lehane book.)

Anyway, write it out, and get some test readers and see what they think. The story wills what it wills.

wrinkles · Oct 28, 2006

Remember when James A Ritchie says that the structure of a novel is circular? That the end must circle around and come back to the beginning, and this is why a properly configured beginning is so important? I think this relates directly to your question. Since Sixth Sense has been mentioned, does that movie conform to this principle? Yes, it does, since the MC died at the beginning. We just didn’t know it. But when we think about it, it’s perfectly plausible within the structure of the movie that he did. (I’m assuming that’s not a spoiler since most adults on the planet have seen the movie and kids shouldn’t be surfing the net unsupervised)

So as has been mentioned, a surprise ending is great, but it still must be compatible with the beginning. It must complete the circle. If an ending flies in from the outside and breaks the circle and there is no closure, that is a bad ending. I hope I am right about Mr. Ritchie’s opinion in this matter. Maybe he will tell us.

PeeDee · Oct 28, 2006

If there's a gun on the mantle in act one, then it must be fired by act three. The reverse is also true.

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