Would you rather have an ending or be left hanging?

I don't like being left hanging either, so I make sure I don't do it in my writing. (Or at least I hope I don't do it.)

It can be interesting to think about what a character will do after the story ends, but only in addition to the story - rather than having to take a guess at what I think happens, and never know.

After I've spent a certain amount of time following a character, I can feel a bit cheated if there isn't a proper ending, whether it's good or bad.

The longer the story, the more wrapped up the ending needs to be.

Shorter, can just be left off.
Longer, needs to have a full wrap of an ending.

I feel it really depends on the story in question. There are times I'm perfectly okay with vagueness and mystery, and times when I'm not. And I'd rather have an ending that leaves things open and up in the air than one that has a definitive ending that feels wrong.

I, personally, like proper endings with explanations that tie the knots to many of the questions, but still leave something behind to make me want to buy the next book in the series.

If it's not a series, then you'd better damn well give me a satisfying ending.

I think twists are overrated, nowadays.

Depends on the story. I can fill in the blanks for myself if I need to.

butterfly said:

I'm reading some short stories from a fiction anthology and they don't end, they hang, and leave you with a sense of wonder and "what happens next".

Not sure I like that.

I feel sort of mislead, like it should have an ending even if it isn't "happily ever after".

It's sort of like finishing the story for the author, the main reason why I didn't like the ending of "Cast Away" - he is standing at the crossroads and you have to guess which road he picks. After going through everything with him I feel I'm entitled to know!

How do you feel about being left hanging? Do your stories end?

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Depends on the book and how it's handled. The ending to Gillian Flynn's amazing GONE GIRL was criticized by some readers as lacking resolution, though I disagree; the lack of a tidy clean-up was part of the point.

But Donna Tartt's second novel, THE LITTLE FRIEND, was a 900 page mystery without an ending. You never find out whodunnit. After slogging through that much story and investing in the characters, I felt totally cheated...especially because her first, THE SECRET HISTORY, was one of the best first novels I've every read.

Depends on the story. Consider "The Lady or the Tiger?" Do you wish Frank Stockton had answered the question at the end of his famous story? If he had, it wouldn't be famous.

The ending of the movie Cast Away was well done. The point is he's unburdened by everything that once circumscribed his life, and free to choose his road; dramatically, it doesn't really matter which one he picks.

Some stories -- a lot of good ones -- end with an implied denoument that doesn't need to be described. One of the best is Saki's "The Interlopers". (That's not really a good example, because it's clear what's going to happen. Just a great story.)

As often noted, it's easy to begin stories, difficult to end them satisfactorily. And especially hard to know just where to stop.

I like twists, and rather think of them as 'surprises.' I like the occasional surprise, like, wow, I did not figure that out, or never saw that coming. Unpredictability keeps me reading.

As for the types of endings - the story has to end the way it has to end. I read a lot of mysteries, and of course I want to know who did that and why. But I also like a little vagueness, as in, does he get the girl?

I write short fiction, (long short fiction.) And they're mysteries, so I have to clear up/explain the main crime, conflict or puzzle I present. However, I did write one in which I let the reader decide if the 'villain' is punished in one of two ways. The person harmed by the villain has to decide what he will do about said villain, and as he lies in a hospital bed figuring this out I end the story.

But my readers didn't care. Several commented that they 'knew' which way he would decide.

So as a rule, yeah, I like my endings concrete and satisfying - except when I don't.

Story endings.... my favorites are like a "Q". They resolve completely, but there's a little something at the end that tells me something else is about to happen.

If it is obvious the book/story ends in a "to be continued" cliffhanger without any resolution or satisfying/intriguing ending, you can bet I will not buy the next book in the series, and I will probably never buy anything else from that author ever again. I consider it equivalent to an overt trick to try and force the reader to shell out more cash to buy the next book.

NeuroFizz said:

If it is obvious the book/story ends in a "to be continued" cliffhanger without any resolution or satisfying/intriguing ending, you can bet I will not buy the next book in the series, and I will probably never buy anything else from that author ever again. I consider it equivalent to an overt trick to try and force the reader to shell out more cash to buy the next book.

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Ditto.

Also: "The End (or is it?)" bugs me immensely, though I've most often seen that in movies.

Seconding what Neuro said.

This is the exact reason I stopped reading Manda Scott. Yes, I am writing a series, but each novel has a self contained plot and conflict. If I were to have the same antagonist in another book, the plot and conflict in the second would have to stand-alone too.

I want the main problem resolved. but leaving the characters with other unresolved problems or challenges doesn't bother me. I really don't need everything tied up with a neat little bow. Just don't leave me thinking, "That's it?".

It depends. I don't want to be left guessing entirely, but I don't need everything wrapped up in a neat little package either.

I don't mind unresolved endings or twist ending in short stories. I haven't made a big investment of time, if it's an annoying ending, or leaves me making up my own ending, well, it's done. The first short stories I read were literary fiction, so my expectations are low. As long as it's not 'slice of life', I'm cool. (God bless the mystery magazines and those who write for them!)

But, if I've just read your novel, and you've left things open-ended, either because you figure I'll be fool enough to buy your sequel, or because you thought it was 'cool' (and 'oh, but real life doesn't have clear-cut edges, or definite endings' counts as 'thinks it's cool') well, you won't see my money or time, again.
I want your ending. I may not like it, but if I've followed you all the way through the book, I want to see how you thought these characters, in this situation, would have played the hand you dealt them.
Otherwise, it's just a really long story-starter, and I don't need that much of an introduction to make my own story.

And, I like epilogues. If you worked out what will happen to the characters a few years down the road, lay it on me. Let's see what you were thinking.

I feel like we see what road he chooses in Cast away

OP: Maybe mention the title of the anthology and some of the stories that seem to leave you hanging?

It doesn't need to be a cliff-hangar or a conclusion. It's just the last thing that happens in the story. Unless the author kills them off, we may presume that the characters live to have another day, series or no. Stories in which all the loose ends get neatly tied up in the last chapter usually provide an unbelievable last chapter.

How do you know where you are going if you don't have an ending in mind when you start? I don't think I'd like it at all. Not writing and not reading.

I hate cliffhanger endings. The story must end satisfactorily - not necessarily happily.

To authors who say they like ambiguity because they want the reader to make up their own minds, I say: if you can't be arsed to come up with an ending for your story, why should I bother?

I agree with Barbara R about THE LITTLE FRIEND - good example of a completely unsatisfactory ending. You can't weave a mystery and then not tell us whodunnit. It's a cheat, and I can't believe so many people rave about that book.

Shara

Just read a book the other day that ended on a cliff hanger. A serious cliff hanger. Like. the MC was about to die and the book just ended with him thinking, I'm about to die. I know he doesn't die b/c there are more books in the series, but I will not be reading any more b/c of how angry I was to be left without any resolutions to any of the plot arcs.

I know this thread is more about books, but every time someone mentions something about cliffhanger endings I always think about the movie The Cutting Edge.

I was 12 when I saw that movie. And to this day, I STILL hate it. It makes me clench my teeth just thinking about it.

I prefer endings.