Open Endings?

AlanaHarbison · May 16, 2013

I am in the process of, hopefully, my final rewrite --or as I like to call it, plot renovation. However, my ending is very open. The story ends after an epic battle, when the MC thinks she, her children, and her lover are all about to die. Instead she wakes up in a mental hospital, put there by those who beat her in battle, her children and lover gone.

It is going to be a series, but being that it will be my debut novel, is it a dangerous move to leave it so up-in-the-air?

Kerosene · May 16, 2013

AlanaHarbison said:
It is going to be a series, but being that it will be my debut novel, is it a dangerous move to leave it so up-in-the-air?

Yes, very.

The book ends for a reason--as the story ends. To have any open areas means that the story hasn't ended. Work with the ending to get it settled. If you have to, put in a epilogue to tie up all the strings.

Your ending sounds more like a cliffhanger than anything else--and a good reason why I wouldn't read the next book.

Also, I'm going to say this bluntly: Stop thinking about a series, and focus solely on a single book. That's it. Nothing else exists past that book until its finished. Make it as clear cut as possible. That's your debut.

quicklime · May 16, 2013

agreeing with Will.

I'm not big on open endings anyway, but if you look at say "The Wrestler," THAT was an open ending--did he have a heart attack? Get his shit in order? continue to languish in obscurity? I didn't like that; I like to know....but at the same time, that was the best place for that movie to end, I think.

Yours is completely different; that isn't an open-ended ending, it isn't an ending at all....at least, the way I am reading it. And that would feel very much like a cheat at best, and if you did write a series a crass marketing ploy.

so, that said, let's flip this: Why are YOU doing this, or what do you see as upside to ending like this?

MJDavis · May 16, 2013

I, personally, can't stand open endings. You do risk alienating a lot of readers.

Diomedes · May 16, 2013

I hate, hate, hate open ending of anything with a passion. The end of The Sopranos was the worst thing in the whole series. The ending ofIain Bainks' Walking on Glass made me wish I hadn't read the book, the same too for Faulks' Human Traces. They're incredibly unsatisfying and make me doubt the author's skill in writing and plot crafting - I like the action of the book to be complete and for the author to have managed to tie up all the threads.

Perhaps the only open ending I ever really liked is Great Expectations, but there was something special about that and it suited the theme of the book.

Takoglint · May 16, 2013

Hmm...I wanna run something by you guys:

Main plot: Hero must defeat big bad

Sub plot: romance/hero's lost past, w/e, w/e

Ending: Hero defeats big bad, and subplot advances but not yet ended.

Is this still consider an open end?

Slicklines · May 16, 2013

WillSauger said:
Also, I'm going to say this bluntly: Stop thinking about a series, and focus solely on a single book. That's it. Nothing else exists past that book until its finished. Make it as clear cut as possible. That's your debut.

I hate it when people quote something and then just write "This". But I can't agree with the above statement more. And so, alas, I would just like to say, "This".

I would only add (to be perhaps even more blunt) that if you're looking at traditional publishing then you might replace "finished" with "sells enough to warrant a series."

Kerosene · May 16, 2013

Takoglint said:
Hmm...I wanna run something by you guys:

Main plot: Hero must defeat big bad

Sub plot: romance/hero's lost past, w/e, w/e

Ending: Hero defeats big bad, and subplot advances but not yet ended.

Is this still consider an open end?

Yeah. One open end.

Typically, subplots roll into the main plot (that's the reason why they are in the book) and they all end at the end. Try folding it all together.

Slicklines said:
I would only add (to be perhaps even more blunt) that if you're looking at traditional publishing then you might replace "finished" with "sells enough to warrant a series."

Depending on the genre, the publisher might just ask for series potential off the bat. SFF, for example, is popular for this. But the publisher would have to be very interested in marketing that series--sticking to their guidelines and such.

Susan Coffin · May 16, 2013

Whether or not you are writing a series, each book must stand alone. Open endings just say that particular book is not completed.

Cathy C · May 16, 2013

Takoglint said:
Hmm...I wanna run something by you guys:

Main plot: Hero must defeat big bad

Sub plot: romance/hero's lost past, w/e, w/e

Ending: Hero defeats big bad, and subplot advances but not yet ended.

Is this still consider an open end?

WillSauger said:
Yeah. One open end.

Hmm... yes. But, also no. There are exceptions. Let's take Star Wars as an example. As a standalone, it works. Yes, you know the war goes on at the end, but the battle is won. The Hero (Luke) defeats the big bad (Vader), but Vader escapes at the end. Is it a satisfying ending. Absolutely. Is there the POTENTIAL for a second movie/book? Absolutely. Is it an open end? Not really, because the primary plot of the story---being Luke's advancement to hero status, is satisfied. If a second movie/book was never created, it would stand alone just fine. So, I wouldn't be afraid to leave the potential. Yes, make it stand alone. But don't close it up so much that there's no potential for more.

JMHO, as always...

Sonsofthepharaohs · May 16, 2013

Cathy C said:
Hmm... yes. But, also no. There are exceptions. Let's take Star Wars as an example. As a standalone, it works. Yes, you know the war goes on at the end, but the battle is won. The Hero (Luke) defeats the big bad (Vader), but Vader escapes at the end. Is it a satisfying ending. Absolutely. Is there the POTENTIAL for a second movie/book? Absolutely. Is it an open end? Not really, because the primary plot of the story---being Luke's advancement to hero status, is satisfied. If a second movie/book was never created, it would stand alone just fine. So, I wouldn't be afraid to leave the potential. Yes, make it stand alone. But don't close it up so much that there's no potential for more.

JMHO, as always...

I agree with Cathy C - I don't think EVERYTHING in the book has to be tied up with a neat little bow in order for it to be called 'finished'. The main plot has to be resolved, yes, but I think subplots have a little more leeway. Often a subplot can form the main plot of a subsequent novel, so concluding them all is just closing off potential story avenues to explore.

My romance subplot will get a nice happy ending - in this novel. But in book 2 I'm gonna take a wrecking ball to it

ishtar'sgate · May 16, 2013

AlanaHarbison said:
It is going to be a series, but being that it will be my debut novel, is it a dangerous move to leave it so up-in-the-air?

For your first novel I think you need to wrap it up fairly well or an agent may get frustrated by its lack of conclusion. However, you don't have to get the little family together, you can just hint at the fact that they're still alive ( assuming you want them to be alive). Someone else in hospital may have seen them - a nurse or a patient and she hears about it and is left with the hope of being reunited and a reason to make her escape from the mental hospital.

kkbe · May 16, 2013

In my last novel I kind of leave the ending unspecified. I don't wrap everything up, nice and neat. I leave it slightly hopeful, but. . .

BUT, that's the revised ending. My original ending was extremely open-ended. The guy opens his eyes and. . . Tell you what, every single person who read the ending let me know how much it sucked. They HATED IT. They were mad at me, I am not kidding. They insisted I change it. They told me it wrecked the book for them.

I was really surprised by the responses. I thought my readers would appreciate the opportunity to come to their own conclusions. Nope. They wanted me, the writer, to give them closure.

The ending I came up with after much consideration isn't nice and neat. There are unanswered questions but this time, my mc is asking. He's acknowledging the fact that not all stories end, happily or otherwise. He's basically telling the reader, look, I know it sucks but that's how it is sometimes and who knows, who really knows what happened? I'm gonna believe this because I have to.

It's a much better ending, even though it . . . isn't.

WeaselFire · May 16, 2013

AlanaHarbison said:
... is it a dangerous move to leave it so up-in-the-air?

It's not up in the air. It's unfinished.

Jeff

Takoglint · May 16, 2013

Cathy C said:
Hmm... yes. But, also no. There are exceptions. Let's take Star Wars as an example. As a standalone, it works. Yes, you know the war goes on at the end, but the battle is won. The Hero (Luke) defeats the big bad (Vader), but Vader escapes at the end. Is it a satisfying ending. Absolutely. Is there the POTENTIAL for a second movie/book? Absolutely. Is it an open end? Not really, because the primary plot of the story---being Luke's advancement to hero status, is satisfied. If a second movie/book was never created, it would stand alone just fine. So, I wouldn't be afraid to leave the potential. Yes, make it stand alone. But don't close it up so much that there's no potential for more.

JMHO, as always...

That's how I feel as well. Main plot is done, so w/e drew the reader into the book has closure, but there's potential to continue. Will the hero end up with the heroine? Will the dark past come and bite him in the ass? We don't know, it's not essential the the main plot, but it leaves enough for future stories to happen.

A recent example I tend to use is Hunger Games, the Game is "over", but the ppl behind the games are pissed off and there seems to be a triangle relationship brewing. Is the main plot over? Yes. Is the story over? No.

Epsilon · May 16, 2013

I'm going to have to agree with the others on here. I feel like your current ending needs some cleaning up. Of course, you will need a few loose ends that will carry over into the rest of the series. But having the MC stuck in a mental hospital with no idea where her children and lover are may be a bit much. Perhaps you could end the book after she escapes the hospital, a la One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Maybe she doesn't escape though...I really don't know what you have in mind as far as the plot goes, but those are my two cents. It's great to hear you're on your final rewrite. Keep up the good work.

Takoglint · May 16, 2013

Ah I totally forgot to address the OP's question:

The ending you have is different from what I described, that one is a major opening in the main plot because:

The consequences of the final battle is part of the resolution, imo, having that "dispelled" by your ending drags the main plot onwards. In that sense I agree with Will that main plot NEEDS to finish within a book, unless you're going for a continuous story instead of a series.

kuwisdelu · May 16, 2013

I don't think the main plot needs to be resolved.

I do think the primary conflict needs to be resolved.

Since they can sometimes be different.

lolchemist · May 16, 2013

Open endings can be very polarizing. For example I *LOVED* the ending to The Sopranos. But I don't even think you story qualifies as an 'open ending' since it has a sequel and it's quite obvious using my *psychic powers* as a reader that in book 2 she will escape from the hospital somehow and get reunited with her kids and lover and everything will be okay. Go ahead, surprise me and have all of them be dead.

What you have is a cliffhanger. An open ending is where there is an ACTUAL ENDING and the circumstances are ambiguous allowing the reader to decide on their own conclusion, for example in Life of Pi, did Pi really have the journey he described with the tiger or did he just go batshit crazy? I picked option 1, many other readers picked option 2 and the story touched each of us in different ways.

njmagas · May 16, 2013

Just my personal opinion, but as a reader, it can be very frustrating. Barbara Hambly did something similar in her Winterlands series and I still haven't forgiven her, despite having loved Dragonsbane. I personally feel a little cheated when a book ends without a conclusion, not because I resent having to buy another book to know what happens (if the writing is well done and entertaining, I'm going to buy it anyway) but because I read this particular book all the way to the end to have the satisfaction of a conclusion; that for now, at least, everything is right in the world. Even if a book has to end in the mud for the protagonist, if the author has written it in a way that all logical conclusions end with the protagonist in the mud, then there is reader satisfaction. "It was difficult, but it couldn't have ended any other way" I've said about more than a few books.

When a book ends with "Did she triumph?! Did she die?! Did you just waste a week of your time for a question in place of a conclusion?!" I'm more inclined to make up my own ending and not read further books, TBH.

kuwisdelu · May 16, 2013

You know what really sucked? The ending of The Iliad.

:sarcasm

:

Hint: it didn't end with a horse.

Dave of Mars · May 16, 2013

Yes, end your book with a complete resolution. There's really a no-win scenario in leaving a cliffhanger for your debut novel. Maybe try it out in your later books, but this one should probably be a self-contained story that can stand on its own, just in case you get sucked into the 5th dimension and can't return to write the sequel.

thebird · May 16, 2013

I hate open endings with a fiery passion, be it in books, film, or TV.

Takoglint · May 16, 2013

So...for you guys, if the big bad is defeated/love requited/world saved/artifact recovered at the end of the book, but there are certain subplots not completely finished yet (which are unimportant to previously stated plot). Will you still hate the book instead of looking forward to seeing more of it?

My own novel aside, I love seeing this kind of thing, since that way I know whatever adventure I partook it had not yet ended. As long as the big bad IS defeated.

lolchemist · May 16, 2013

The 'Big Bad' doesn't HAVE TO be defeated. Look at Harry Potter or Eragon? The bad guy didn't completely lose until the end of the last books. In Harry Potter, each book had it's own adventure that had it's own beginning, middle and end PLUS the overarching 'Voldemort sucks and must be defeated' plot. I don't really remember the individual plots of the Eragon books they are all a big massive blob to me but... yeah, bad guy still didn't get defeated until book 4.

Just write books that make sense, really.

Open Endings?

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