What is a Story

An earlier version of this advice appeared in my LiveJournal in 2005.

Endings are as important as beginnings

Although you wouldn't know it.

There is a plethora of advice around about openings. Much good, a lot bad. Yes, openings are important. If nobody gets past that point, it doesn't matter how brilliant your ending is.

But endings are important too.

If you lure your reader in with a very engaging opening, and manage to keep their attention through the often tricky middle parts of your story, but then let them down with an unsatisfactory ending, that's almost worse than never engaging them at all.

They'll remember that you promised them a great story from beginning to end--and didn't deliver. They won't ever trust an engaging opening from you again. It's not enough to get a reader to read one thing you wrote. You want them to read the next thing you write. And the next. Significant sales come from having a reader base. You can't rely on picking up new readers all the time to replace the ones you've lost.

So, what makes for a great ending?

It has to satisfy.

It doesn't have to be happy or sad, explosive or mellow. It has to SATISFY the reader.

Satsifaction comes from resolving the major plot threads, tying the story back to its beginning, concluding any character or story arcs and leaving the reader with a sense of "yes, it's over...but I wish it wasn't!". They should simultaneously want to read more and yet appreciate that the story is concluded.

The ending should be true to the story. A light, funny story shouldn't suddenly have a dark, tragic ending--and vice versa. A story's tone should be consistent throughout.

The ending shouldn't cheat. Don't use deus ex machina. No sudden, unforeshadowed strokes of good or ill fortune. In fact, nothing unforeshadowed at all. No suddenly deciding that the stakes that have been driving the story don't matter that much after all.

The ending should relate to the beginning. (I can hear my first readers laughing hollowly--this is one area where I tend to fall down unless prodded.) Some connection to the beginning of the story, some payoff of an issue raised at the opening (a lost ring is found, for example). Some nod to where this all started.

The ending should be in the right place, and be neither rushed nor needlessly extended. When it's over, it's over. End it! But don't choose to end it too soon because the word count is running out. For preference, trim the beginning and middle in order to ensure the story is balanced. Each part of the story--beginning, middle and end--should be equal. Not in the sense of having the same word count, but in the sense of giving the reader the impression that the same amount of attention has been paid to each of them. Balance the three rather than overwriting beginning and middle and then rushing the ending.

The ending should resolve important plot threads and anything that's been given significance in the story. Unless you're messing with our minds (which is also acceptable), don't emphasise something or someone for which or whom there's no payoff by the end. It's very irritating when a character who features strongly at the beginning of the story suddenly disappears halfway through, never to be seen or heard of again.

The End