Advice on writing endings
According to Jenny Newman in The Writer’s Workbook (p. 62), There are four basic endings:
the protagonist gets what she wants and lives happily ever after
or realises that her goal was not worth having
or she does not get what she wants and it ruins her life
or else she sees she was better off without whatever it had been in the first place
Joyce Carol Oates (1994) believes that you need not end with a spelt-out statement, as long as you signal ‘a tangible change of some sort; a distinct shift in consciousness, a deepening of insight’.
Elaine Chiew believes (chapter in The Art of The Short Story ed Vanessa Gebbie) that an ending has to be organic, “meaning it grows out of all that came before” (p. 188).
To reach the ending you need to know its dramatic heart, the theme being explored, what the main character wants or is searching for. And then the ending will find you!
Types of endings
The epiphany ending
This is a realisation of inner truth for a main character based on what has happened in the story up until that point.
You might want a series of smaller epiphanies throughout the story rather than saving one big one for the end.
A twist or surprise ending
Endings with a twist can be a cliché but on the other hand surprising endings when organically grown can be very satisfying.
Mirror/circular endings
These can be far more rewarding to read a story where the main character arrives at a different place than where they started (Chiew p. 196).
Though an echo of the beginning can be useful in the beginning to remind the reader where the main character started - this can be done with a feeling, a return to the main desire, with an object or place.
The ending of a story could often also be a beginning.
Resonant endings
This is a blend of metaphor, scene, emotions, objects, thoughts and imagery. Everything in the story brings you to the point where the tail of your ending begins. Can be hard to pull off. But very satisfying.
If you’re struggling to finish a story
First check that you know your characters well enough and that they have a strong desire or driving narrative.
Then check whether there is something emotional holding you back - fear of what might happen when you finish the story (eg. you might be telling yourself you have to send it out somewhere and this comes with a possibility of failure and rejection or you’ll be done and especially with a longer project, you might feel at a loss as to what to do next)
Jennie Nash in her book, Blueprint for a Book: Build Your Novel From the Inside Out, says that the opening and closing scenes of your novel are bookends for the protagonist’s arc of change. One can’t exist without the other. It’s an inhale and an exhale. A call and response. A problem and a resolution. Tying these two scenes together is the first step in creating narrative drive.
Bear in mind genre when considering ending (eg. in a mystery book, the reader will want to know who did it). Also, the story will end when the struggle you started with is resolved and we need to be able to see it. It needs to happen in a specific time and place.
Donald Maas in Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook says, “A last line needs to have wit, a touch of poetry, or a sense of dawning peace. A sigh of satisfaction. A soaring passage of word art.”
And
“The first and last line need to act as strong brackets to hold the book together.”
Alan Watt in his book 90 Day Memoir, suggests that in the end the reader will understand something about the nature of your struggle that they didn’t understand at the beginning.
He says: “The desire to write is really the desire to evolve by resolving an inner struggle. While your creative work is a gift to yourself and the world, it is also simply a byproduct of your spiritual growth.” (Day 89)
And with a fill-in-the-blanks template to help you summarise your story, Alison Fallon in her book, Telling Your Story says that endings are all about how a main character transforms in order to solve or overcome their one big problem:
The hero used to _______ be but now she is _______.The hero demonstrates this by _______.
For your story to keep the reader engaged, you’ll need a climactic scene showing exactly what the character has learned. They haven’t just understood how to change. They have actually changed. They are a new person (eg. when the Karate Kid does his crane kick and wins the tournament).
After the climactic scene, you have a reflection on the meaning of the story. This might be a quieter scene or a reflective passage alluding to the moral - a simple lesson that can be taken from the events of the story. This brings closure and demonstrates the purpose of the whole story.
Next time you watch films or read novels or memoirs, notice the endings. Which ones do you like best? Which elements do they have in them? How do they tie up the loose ends (but not too neatly!)? What do they leave open? How do they unfold from the rest of the events of the story? Are they satisfying? Why?
About Mel Parks
I love to write and since I took my first creative writing class twenty years ago, it became part of my everyday life. For the past ten years, most weeks I have delivered creative writing workshops sharing what I’ve learned along the way. Writing connects me to my intuition, the wider world and other people too. I am proud of the community I have created in my workshops, where people share their stories in a way they wouldn’t otherwise, and find confidence in their own unique voice.
I have been a professional writer and editor since 1997, published poetry, fiction and personal essays as well as academic articles, magazine features and many other third sector publications and web content. I have an MA in Creative Writing (with distinction) and recently, I have been working on Moonpause: a series of plant and moon-inspired lyric essays funded by the Arts Council. Find out more here.
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