I don't have an ending for my series

The war against evil can never be won outright. That's a common theme. But folks can win a battle. Buffy and the Scoobies can win the day and close the hellmouth, it just might open again someday.

JulianneQJohnson said:

The war against evil can never be won outright. That's a common theme. But folks can win a battle. Buffy and the Scoobies can win the day and close the hellmouth, it just might open again someday.

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But perhaps not that particular hellmouth?

The war cannot perhaps be won in perpetuity, but it's not satisfying story-telling (to me, anyway) if the front of evil can't at least be shoveled back and walled up for a Very Long Time. Tolkein didn't claim that fall of Sauron meant the end of Evil forever, but at least it meant the end of Sauron. World War 2 didn't mean the end of Evil forever, but at least it meant the end of Hitler and the German Nazi regime.

If I invest hours in reading a long fantasy work, and the theme is the war against Evil, then I'd like to see either Evil win (as depressing as it might be), or Evil lose, but I would be actively annoyed if at the end Evil was merely battled to a draw, free to throw the dice again in the future. As realistic as the latter scenario might be IRL, it's just not something I'd enjoy reading in fiction.

I think I'd want to read something that suggested there had been a change in the balance of things. Otherwise the book would seem sort or episodic, I think... here's a bunch of stuff that happened, but it didn't really lead to anything or resolve anything...

If the Big Bad has to survive, could the 'victory' for your band be that they prevented an outbreak of some sort? Like instead of starting at equal forces and then battling to an ending where the forces are still equal, maybe you could start at (or quickly reach) a situation where the forces of evil are about to win a key victory, and if they do THAT, then the balance of power will be destroyed and evil will eventually win. So faced with this catastrophic event, realizing how important it could be, your guys fight back and manage to stop it.

I think this is a pretty common approach.

Kinda like destroying the Death Star, right? Darth Vader was still around, there was still a war on, but at least this one huge weapon got shut down. Or like destroying the ring - Introversion covered the Sauron part, but didn't it all start because Sauron was trying to get his hands on the rings? Trying to get the strategic edge on things, forcing the good guys to fight back.

For what it's worth, I LOVE the "small band of misfits fighting on the edges of the real war" trope, but I love it best when they manage, despite all the odds, to do something really significant that has impact on the war as a whole. They don't have to WIN the war, but they should make a real contribution, in my world.

efreysson said:

To clarify:I feel the logical way to end the series (at least for a while), is to have the protagonists kill ONE of the major monsters that have menaced the world, before they can properly get the latest apocalypse war going.
I just have no plan on how to accomplish this, or how to not make it anticlimactic. It took massive wars to deal with them in the past, and as I said the main three aren't generals.
I don't want to do some asspull in the last book, but I also don't want to break from the established contained style.

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Hard to know what to advise without reading the books, but you said they "they fight in the shadows in a guerilla war of sorts". Can you write an ending that plays to those strengths -- a complex assassination plan, maybe? A surprise attack with a small mob of guerilla elite?

efreysson said:

I'm writing about three different characters in the same setting, each with their own struggles against dark forces. I write very character-focused, with few major characters.

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Then I'd say don't worry about the war. Focus on the characters and personal growth. What are their personal, internal struggles?

You can have a fine ending when their inner conflicts are resolved and they conquer their own personal demons. They don't need to defeat the external forces.

efreysson said:

I'm writing about three different characters in the same setting, each with their own struggles against dark forces. I write very character-focused, with few major characters. A recurring theme of sorts is the fact that rather than being world-beating epic heroes they are simply a part of a much larger overall struggle against the powers that threaten mankind, one that has been going on for centuries. They win battles, but the war goes on with each generation.

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I have two suggestions for you. Since there can be no ultimate victory you should focus on defeating just one specific evil. You can make it clear this enemy is just one of his kind and destroying him does not win the war, but it will save a village or kingdom from immediate destruction. Or it will drive the forces of evil back temporarily.

My suggestions would be to have either 1) a heroic sacrifice or 2) have one of the three heroes turn to the dark side.

Having three main characters each taking their own path can allow you to explore their individual strengths and weaknesses. What would they sacrifice everything for? What is more important to them than life itself? If the story is character driven ask yourself which of them would be the most willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. Which of them might be willing to make a deal with evil in order to protect a loved one or their home?

Thinking in these terms might make it easier to imagine an ending.

You say they have no powers and are fighting a guerilla war. To me that suggests that they have minimal contact with the main 'good guys' army. Have a regional battle were the forces of good beat the forces of evil and the three are rewarded for their sacrifice in making the battle winnable. This could be lands, money, titles. Could there be a relationship between two of them? Reveal a twist in that one of the three might be related to a high ranking person on the evil side.

This theme reminds me of Joss Whedon's Angel, where Angel and the gang fought the smaller battles while the forces of darkness fought a silent war -- and were winning.

"If there's no great glorious end to all this, if nothing we do matters... , then all that matters is what we do." Angel season 2

Consider watching that show if you haven't already. It dealt with that kind of theme from time to time...
I like the idea that the apocolyptic struggle is far larger than just one person versus the underworld. I think you should concieve an ending for your series.

You mentioned five books. Why five? You must have five ideas/themes picked already then to pick that number right? Surely there's an ending in there somewhere. Write down your rough character/story progression for your 5 books, it might give you your answer. Will your characters work their way up? Any rewards in store for them?

Simply saving their town or loved ones could be enough.

I'm planning a five book epic myself (not like yours though), and I have a rough idea of my ending (still working on it). I'm not saying you have to start that way - but it's working for me.

This may sound cliche, but what if one of your characters has some kind of link with one of the monsters? You can have that character teeter between fighting against the monster's influence and giving in to it. In the end, with this connection foreshadowed, that character will have learned enough about the monster to defeat it or at least keep it from reviving. Another option is for that character to merge with the monster and become a sort of super-ego.

Your ending has to resolve the tension set up in the series in a way that is satisfying to the reader. It sounds to me like you're struggling because you're setting up a conflict that can't be resolved within the framework of the world you've created. If that's the case, you're going to need to either rework your world or rework the central conflict so that some resolution is possible.

I don't have an ending for my series

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When I read this my first thought was "then your series isn't over." I mean that without snark/cleverness.

If a story was a road trip, starting out knowing what state you want to end up in might be all you need to decide. Besides, the journey changes everything (and everyone) and unless you're creating (and following) a strict outline for the entire project -- things will change.

Just my .02.

I think you might want to see if the characters are able to put a stop gap solution in place to prevent these creatures from being released. Giving the main opposition forces a chance to organize and regroup. Along the way maybe they can defeat one (weakened) specimen to make the threat real to disbelievers/holdouts.

Alternately, I see the Star Wars or LOTR movies as a path you could take, using parallel narratives. Each of the characters takes on one important task that lead in separate directions, but giving them each a challenge that would measurably contribute to the overall effort. One may have to carry a warning, one could lead a forlorn rear guard action, one could create a diversion, one could infiltrate the enemy for intelligence or assassination.

My first instinct is to tell you to kill someone. Nothing says that the war goes on like killing one of your main characters.

Then you could always have the two remaining characters go after whomever killed/ordered the kill. While they're doing this they're going to have to re-examine themselves.

Death is always good for shaking things up.

A giant asteroid strike is always useful.

caw

efreysson: Question: if there are nasty monsters in hibernation, are there also heroes in hibernation? Maybe your current heroes become the next generation to be "preserved" to continue the fight in the future.

If you're concentrating on character driven stories, I'd say keep going. I'm doing the same. My stories are very character driven, though I'm hinting at bigger conspiracies and consequences happening in the background. At some point, I'll have to deal with those (and figure out what they all are), but I'm aiming to do so based on what my main group of characters can accomplish.

It's an interesting problem, but a few ideas come to mind; some stolen from people more creative than me.

1. Personalise the conflict. If something or someone is going to wake your big bad then your characters can go after them.

2. The end goal is the establishment of something that will keep the big bad asleep / happy, so your goal is to build something, an alliance, treaty, whatever. What's needed may have a terrible price.

3. If your big bad must awake then you've got a more action packed climax. Either you kill him (rocket launchers, Pacific Rim or do something clever), send him back to sleep or run. . .

4. so run! Babylon 5 had the Battle of the line. Earth was losing a war and the planned final battle was a deperate rearguard to slow the enemy while as many innocent people escaped earth as possible. The planet dies but humanity lives on in some form.


Craig

So do these monsters attack innocent people? If so the main resolution is protecting those people long-term, rather than defeating the evil. If the laws of your universe prevent their being killed, is there a way to defeat them more cleverly? Trick them into fighting each other? Move them to a far away place? Move the people perhaps? Perhaps there could even be a moral argument. Are these creatures evil, or are they just following their nature?

If you have to have a situation where the threat continues due to the mechanics of your universe, an unresolved cliffhanger may be the only way to go. If you can't leave your reader feeling relieved it all worked out, then leave them reeling from the shock of a new revelation.

Small point of confusion here for me: there's a looming threat of apocalyptic beasts, but who are they fighting right now? The beasts' underlings? Or an inter-human war?

The most important thing for an ending is a sense of change. That can be internal, character-driven change, or change in the world at large. Or both, of course. To be entirely formulaic, you can do both by having the characters overcome some internal flaw which gives them the strength/courage/whatever to win the larger conflict.

But change is key. Even if it's change for the worse. For example, you could have the characters struggle with their own flaws like greed, lust for power, etc, only to slip deeper and deeper into the dark side. The doom of humanity at the hands of the beasts will be the final blanket of darkness that covers the characters that were unable to look up from their squabbling and overcome their flaws.

Those are the two extremes - anything in the middle is just as valid, as long as there is a sense of change. It gives validity to the story before the ending, making those events have larger meaning.

One thing I've found helpful when writing epic fantasy/sci-fi is having characters stand in as symbols of the struggle at large. Maybe two of the characters grow enough to band together, but the third betrays them. Use the interpersonal conflict to represent the trends with the armies and groups - one betrays the other two. Still, humanity manages to stave off the beasts with two-thirds of its strength. At then end, there is hope that maybe next time, with ALL of humanity backing the same cause, they will be able to defeat the beasts for good.

Could you bring in another supernatural force to achieve that? Or could you have a situation where one of the nine is convinced to turn against the others?

efreysson said:

To make a long story short, the monsters were nine men who became deathless abominations, and every time they awaken they raise an army of the undead and mad cultists and try to conquer the world and shape it in their image. When one gets defeated and permanently destroyed, the rest retreat and hibernate. Three have been killed in a thousand years of intermittent fighting, but it has always taken huge wars.

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It sounds to me like you already have your ending. The myth of this world would seem to be the people rising up to fight great battles against these evil beings. With one being destroyed at heavy cost. You could easily recount a tale of one of these battles and the sacrifice needed. You also have the option of requiring very specific conditions for them to be killed; it requires a weapon made of holly, only someone with a specific blood line, only during a night of the full moon, etc.

If you have killed three then there should only be six left correct? So all you have to do is figure out a scenario that allows your three heroes a chance to kill one of these six, or at the very least help the main army do it. It's cliche, but they can always quest for a vital magical item. Or perhaps one of the six is separated from the others for some reason and the three heroes are given the unique chance to try and stop him.