stories that don't end in the present narrative

What do you guys think about stories that don't end in the present narrative? I have a story where the majority of the story is backstory, but it does check in with the present narrative. However, it ends in the past. Some people have said that I should end in the present narrative, circle back around. But that feels pretty cookie cutter, and wasn't what I had in mind. However, if a story that ends in the present narrative is more likely to get published, I don't want to do anything to crazy.

Have any of you ended a story in a flashback? Can it work? What sort of things do you have to keep in mind to make something like this work? Or is it really better to end a story in the present narrative?

Angry Guy said:

Where's the action happening? Where's the conflict? "Present" and "Past" are kind of arbitrary. It could be "Present" and "Future".

Generally, one timeline will be where everything happens, and the other will be more of an "observer", where they're trying to figure things out, or they get affected by the main timeline in some way.

Within that, do whatever works.

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There is conflict in the past and present. My story doesn't really fit your idea of one timeline vs. another. And, actually, I'm not sure how common it is or maybe I'm not sure what you mean by "observer." I think I do, but that's just not true for the fiction I've read, and I read a lot.

The problem with doing "whatever works" is that I'm not 100 percent sure what works. I think my question is pretty specific. Can you end a short story in a flashback? I honestly don't know. I'm not sure if or when I've come across this or if maybe it I just didn't pick up on it.

Where did all the short story writers go? It seems like there has been some turnover.

King Neptune said:

Is it still a short story? That seems like a lot to fit in 5000 words. Are you sure you aren't writing part of a novel?

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I'm sure it's a short story. It is under 5,000 words. And I think my concept lends itself nicely to a short story. I am very focused on writing short stories. Sometimes I think about trying to turn one of my short stories into a novel, but it hasn't really worked. I prefer to commit myself to shorter works. Plus, I really love reading short stories.

Myrealana said:

Neptune, I've got a story that takes place in three different timelines over 100 years. It's about 7200 words, but that's still a short story. It's also probably my favorite thing I've ever written. Hard to market at that length, though.

I don't understand how you would end a story in a flashback, though. If the conflict was resolved in the past, what weight does the present-time action hold?

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I see what you're saying, but this story is a little different. The ending is important to the story. That information has to stay in the story in some form. But I guess what you are saying is ending the story in a flashback might be weird, right?

King Neptune said:

I can imagine a frame story in which the story ends with the end of the framed story.

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I'm not sure what you mean. Can you say a little more about that?

Myrealana said:

It might be. It might be brilliant.

In the end, I'm going to go with Miranda.

Write it and see. You can change the end if it doesn't work once you have it on the page.

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I already wrote it. I thought that was clear. But I don't know if it works. I am guessing it doesn't because it is not something I think I've seen.

Jamesaritchie said:

I don't think it's possible to give you a good answer without reading the story, but is there any reason it can't end in the present, other than it seems "cookie cutter"?

"Cookie cutter" is very often just another way of saying "Something that has been proven to work."

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The end explain why the main characters are the way they are. I can't lose the information completely. I will have to find another way to work it into the story. What I was referring to as cookie cutter is bookending a story. The real reason it can't end in the present narrative is because it is almost 5K, and I want to stay under that word count. And it just felt right when I was writing it. This is just where I went with it. While and right after writing the end, I thought I nailed it, not knowing that I was doing something you're not supposed to do. The more I think about ending in a flashback, the less comfortable I am with it. I can't think of any examples of this in published work. Neither can my writer friends.