I have a confession. I hate it when a book closes with an open ending—or a “non-ending” as I sometimes think of them. You know what I’m taking about, those books where the major plotlines are never resolved, where the book just sort of stops without giving you any solid answers or the author leaves it up to the reader to decide what happens next or to connect the dots without providing any firm leads for doing so. Such endings always feel like a bit of a cop-out to me, like the author wrote a story but didn’t bother to come up with an ending. It always leaves me feeling cheated. This is my personal taste, of course, and I’m sure there are others out there that would argue this is a perfectly valid way to end a book. I just prefer books with solid endings, I guess.
Endings are pretty important. The entire book leads up to
this point, and the last thing you want to do is disappoint your readers or
make them think, “What? I read 300 hundred pages for that?!”
So, some tips about endings:
- There should actually be an ending, at least in my opinion. The story shouldn’t just stop without resolving the major conflict(s) that arose during the course of the book. The ending should offer answers and resolution. Even if the author has a sequel planned or anticipates the book being the first in a series, the major loose ends should still be tied up. You never know—your publisher could decline to publish a sequel, cancel your contact for a series, even go out of business entirely. We hope none of these things happen, of course, but this is a crazy business. One of my friends was once reading a book series, and sadly, the author died before it was ever finished. It’s never a safe bet to leave your readers hanging too much.
- The main character should be the one who brings about this resolution. This seems to throw a lot of newbie writers for a loop. The story shouldn’t resolve due to a lucky coincidence or a character that materializes out of nowhere to solve everyone’s problems. In children’s lit, it certainly shouldn’t be an adult such as a handy parent or teacher who swoops in to save the day. You want an active main character who influences the people and situations around them—and yes, that means coming up with the solutions to their own problems. The best endings will force your main character to grow or change in some way.
- And it always helps when the ending isn’t too predictable—or too moral. If you have to throw the moral in the reader’s face (“see, boys and girls, why it’s so important to eat your vegetables,” etc.), you haven’t done a good enough job making it clear in the course of the book. There’s always something a little insulting about someone trying to hammer a message into you. Trust your audience to work out the morals on their own.
Can't stand open endings either. They get me MAD!
ReplyDeleteYou've made me wonder about my ending now... and whether I'm pushing something. So thanks!
They upset me, too, Freya. They can be soooo frustrating to me as a reader.
DeleteGlad the post was helpful to you :)
I like them. As the author, I feel like my characters' training wheels are off, that they no longer need me (or even the reader, for that matter) to continue their journey. Ideally the reader sees this too.
ReplyDeleteGuess it's a preference thing.
I know others who feel the same way, Caroline. It's definitely a preference.
DeleteI'm fine with ambiguous, open endings, depending on the type of story. In fantasy (all spec-fic, really) I prefer a nice neat resolution, but in contemporary fiction, especially character study type stuff, I'm fine with all kinds of different "endings."
ReplyDeleteGenerally I prefer a solid ending, but you're right, there are certain stories where open endings work a little better. It's great you're so open-minded about all kinds of endings. I'm a little more picky, which isn't always a good thing, lol.
DeleteOh am I on the fence about this one. You would hate the ending of my current wip, Matthew, lol. Right now, it ends on a cliff hanger that sets things up for the second book. Plus, it ends in a similar way it began. Hard to explain in a comment box without going into crazy details. In short, I’ve been thinking I should resolve a few more things by the end of book one for a lot of the same reasons you stated above. Plus, like you said, there are no guarantees for book two.
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful you're thinking so carefully about your ending, Elise. It's definitely an important part of your manuscript and worth all your careful attention.
DeleteYes, I want a definite ending. An explanation. A resolution. Cliff-hangers are fairly common in the second book of a trilogy -- YA more than MG, though -- but I prefer each book to stand on its own. There may still be more conflict ahead, but I like to see the primary conflict of the current novel resolved. (satisfactorily or unsatisfactorily, because things don't always go the MC's way)
ReplyDeleteTotally agree about each book needing to stand on its own, Dianne! And yet there seem to be more and more books published these days where that is not the case. Or at least, I seem to have read quite a few recently where there isn't *any* type of resolution, and you're just expected to wait for book two to find out what happens. I really, really don't care for such non-endings, but other people seem fine with them, so it might just be one of my pet peeves.
DeleteI love endings that END, but then also lead into another book. So, open endings work for me on that level. As in the main quest of this book has been completed, but now here's something more to drive you completely nuts while you wait for the next book! :)
ReplyDeleteTotally, Hilary!
DeleteI don't mind some loose ends being left open for addressing in future books, as long as I get some kind of resolution. But I do want resolution :)
I have to bring up one example of where I think a non-ending ending works absolutely perfectly - although this is film, rather than literature. Before Sunrise and Before Sunset.
ReplyDeleteBoth fantastic movies, Lily, and you're right--the endings work perfectly! I think that is the case because the endings (or non-endings) really match the plot (or lack of plot) in those particular stories. The loose structure of the stories don't really require a solid ending. In fact, a solid ending would really clash with the feel of the story. Great example of a case where a non-ending absolutely works!
DeleteI like endings that have some of both - many of the loose ends tied up, but I don't mind something to think and wonder about, too.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. A little mystery for the reader to wonder about can be a really nice touch, as long as the major story arc is brought to a close.
DeleteI prefer solid endings, with the major plot tied up, though some aspects can be left for sequels. I don't necessarily need a complete, absolute ending – the best example I can think of is that in an adult romance novel, I'm fine with the characters ending with "happy for now" and don't need a "let's get married and have babies" ending, or an epilogue that looks into the future. If the story was satisfying, I can complete some of it on my own.
ReplyDeleteI like your tips. I've covered some aspects of endings on my blog as well: http://chriseboch.blogspot.com/search/label/endings
Thanks, Chris. Will check out your link right now :)
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ReplyDeleteI'm with you, I don't like endings that are so open it doesn't justify the emotional roller coaster I went on.
ReplyDeleteI know lots of authors (Especially the attitude of many YA authors these days) that think vague endings (Particularly when they're tragic or just harsh) are superior to things ending, dare I say, happier?
I'm NOT going to lie, I LIKE happy endings when possible given the book or characters involved, but they don't have be saccharine to avoid the tragic outcome. REALLY. It's possible.
Take one of my favorite books, "A Rat's Tale" by Tor Seidler. That ending was emotional, and a little sad given the journey, and without spoiling it, let's just say it avoids being overly saccharine, but don't expect an ending like say (Insert the saddest book you've ever read here) either.
That said, as a soon to be published author of my debut MG novel, I can promise you right now that I don't
Even as a "newbie" virgin in this field, I did not want to write a book where the ending was so ambiguous the reader felt cheated. I've read a couple books like that and it's an even worse letdown than a more sweetish ending, not overly pat, but isn't ashamed to give the characters some hard-earned happiness at the end.
That said, it's harder to do that with picture books or short stories, it really is, and those who don't think that NEVER tried to write one. I did, and I'm not ready for picture books yet.
That said, knowing it's going to evolve more now that I've got my editor (And her co-editors) going through it,I worked hard to avoid an overly vague or overly sappy ending.
I don't like morals beat into me, so that's one trap even my rough drafts I don't often fall victim to, and I'm thankful for that.
I frankly am mor anal about my BEGINNING than the ending, no one will ever get to the end to judge if it's not pat or overly vague if they can't get beyond page one for whatever reason, so I struggle more with openings, but that's me.
Most of my books(Series intention on my part or not)have linear storylines for this reason alone. Other key reasons, too, but that's the biggie for me.
That said, it takes SKILL to make open-ended, non-linear series work, and there are some great series, especially for the chapter book set that this works well, without getting shamefully repeteive, yet still there's a through-line, however broad or loose.
I often feel cheated with books that end ambiguously, so I think it's great you are taking this into consideration and focusing on producing an ending that will feel satisfying to your readers. Thanks for your thoughts, Taurean, and congrats on your forthcoming debut!
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