˒⠀S O T T . . . 𝙲𝙰𝚁𝙳𝙸𝙸𝙰𝙲
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❛ 𝑾𝑬𝑳𝑪𝑶𝑴𝑬 TO THE 𝑭𝑰𝑵𝑨𝑳
𝑺𝑯𝑶𝑾, 𝑯𝑶𝑷𝑬 YOU'RE WEARING
YOUR 𝑩𝑬𝑺𝑻 CLOTHES. ❜
ending a story! ━━ no. 021
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THIS IS OFFICIALLY THE LAST CHAPTER OF ACT ONE FOR THIS BOOK! Given that, I can't think of a more appropriate topic to discuss for this section than how to end a story.
Now, we all know that at some point, our stories have to reach an ultimate conclusion. They can't continue forever, despite how much we may want them to. At some point, it has to end, and writing the beginning of the end is a major source of writing anxiety for most authors.
Endings are hard. It's never easy to say goodbye, and saying one final goodbye to a beloved story is especially hard. Once you finish the last chapter and close the book, as an author, a small piece of your heart is broken off and taken, never to be returned. The world and characters you've created have grown up, gone through Heaven and Hell, and hopefully survived their journey. A good thing can only remain good for so long until the time comes when it has to end. Nothing lasts forever and that is remarkably true for books.
As an author myself, I maintain a love-hate relationship with ending stories. With some books, endings are hard. There's this innate and implicit pressure to get the endings of your stories just right and make sure you close all the doors in a resounding and comfortable manner. With others, endings are the best part because I can't wait to end the book and move on. (Sorry 𝐀𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮, but I honestly couldn't wait.)
Before I get into how to end a story, I want to make something clear: you are the only one who ultimately decides how a story of yours ends. No one else. You.
Additionally, in no way, shape, or form am I an ideal example or "role model" when it comes to ending stories. I am not the best at endings, but I've gotten a lot better and want to help all of you progress in your journeys as writers.
Now, let's get into it.
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝐏𝐒𝐀: 𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐈𝐑 ⸝⸝ ⇗
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀→ ⺌ This section stems from tlbodine on Tumblr and The Write Practice. Credit for this portion goes to them. Disclaimer: I have added my own words, advice, and paraphrased sections of the article.
╰─── 𝙀𝙉𝘿𝙄𝙉𝙂𝙎 𝘼𝙍𝙀𝙉'𝙏 𝘼𝙎 𝙄𝙈𝙋𝙊𝙍𝙏𝘼𝙉𝙏 𝘼𝙎 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙔 𝙈𝘼𝙔 𝙁𝙀𝙀𝙇.
"As a writer, knowing your ending is a really important part of working through the middle. You got to know where you'll end up before you can write (or at least revise) all the bits to get to that point. So, from a writer's perspective, endings are really vital and very challenging.
"But from a reader's perspective? Honestly, endings are probably the least important part of the book. Many, many excellent books have terrible endings, but we forgive them for it because everything else was pretty good. We'll put up with an ending that falls a little short if everything else is satisfying."
So, take a little bit of pressure off yourself! Writing is an art, not a science. "We authors operate under principles, not rules or laws. So there are no rules when it comes to figuring out how to end a story. Yet principles can help you navigate the murky and frustrating waters of storytelling when you don't know where to go, or how to get your characters out of trouble without cheating. Remember that this is a process."
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐌 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 ⸝⸝ ⇗
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀→ ⺌ This section stems from The Write Practice. Credit for this portion goes to them. Disclaimer: I have added my own words, advice, and paraphrased sections of the article.
╰─── Perhaps the biggest problem concerning writing endings is the extreme pressure we put on ourselves to "get it right." Traditionally, endings are ordinarily the most memorable part of a story; leaving the greatest impression on the readers. We want to figure out how to end a story right, so badly; to fulfill every possible expectation that our audience may have; to make sure we don't leave anyone disappointed. But that's not realistic. There's always going to be someone who is not going to be satisfied with how you decide to end your story, and that's okay.
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐃. . . ⸝⸝ ⇗
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀→ ⺌ These tips all stem from tlbodine on Tumblr. Credit for this portion goes to them. Disclaimer: I have added my own words, advice, and paraphrased sections of the article.
Writing the end of a book might sound easy. Sure, in concept it's easy. In execution? Not so much. In order to write the ideal ending, there are a few things you must establish at the beginning, carry throughout the story, and resolve at the end.
╰─── 𝟬𝟭. The core question. "Every story should have a question at its heart. Will the star-crossed lovers get together?" Will the bad guy or evil organization be taken down? Will the good characters win in the end? Will characters A and B make up or forgive each other? Will they find a solution to a pertinent problem?
╰─── 𝟬𝟮. The answer to the core question. "A satisfying ending is going to answer that question. Most of the time, the answer will be "yes" because we like stories with happy endings. But you can still write stories with unhappy endings, or bittersweet endings," or whatever you feel is best. As said at the beginning of this chapter, it's up to you. However, "in order to feel satisfying, the ending needs to validate that the question was actually important enough to ask in the first place."
╰─── 𝟬𝟯. Why did it take this character the entirety of the book to get to that answer? "If your justification for this is weak, you'll get an unsatisfying ending. In general, we want to see characters confront challenging problems and overcome them through their own actions, a process which usually involves growth such that by the end they have the skills/knowledge/wisdom/friends/resources/etc. to fix the problem."
Bottom Line: "In general, the ending should also offer some glimpse at what the future of your characters might look like, to give that sense that these are real people whose existence extends beyond the pages" (and to give you space for a sequel if it's your plan to continue the story).
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 ⸝⸝ ⇗
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀→ ⺌ This section stems from tlbodine on Tumblr. Credit for this portion goes to them. Disclaimer: I have added my own words, advice, and paraphrased sections of the article.
There's this thought experiment about God and omnipotence: 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝗹-𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘃𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘁?
The answer to that question is debatable, but as the God of your own story, here's some friendly advice: 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲. In other words, stack the cards against your characters by giving them tasks that seem impossible. However, make sure that you don't run yourself into a corner where you don't know how to get them out of the trouble you crafted.
Luckily, since you're the God of your story, you can cheat. You can adjust things as necessary to make a character's task difficult but not totally impossible, and if you back yourself into a corner, you can alter reality to open up a door in that corner. (Just be sure to go back and set up the necessary foreshadowing to make you look clever instead of lazy.)
➳❥ For example: "In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry has an impossible task. He is face-to-face with Voldemort and a cluster of death eaters, and there is absolutely no way that he can defeat them on his own as a 4th-year student. So J.K. Rowling introduces us to priori incantatem, which is a spell we've never seen before so it comes as a big surprise. But what saves this shocking twist from feeling cheap is that it's already been established that their wands share the same core, and that was treated like a big deal—so it feels gratifying, not cheap, when it's used as a solution."
So, your march toward the end is going to be a series of problems that are, in turn, solved, only for other, bigger, harder problems to pop up. "Your story reaches its climax when that final, biggest, nastiest problem is confronted—and the ending envelops the fall-out and resolution."
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝟑 𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 ⸝⸝ ⇗
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀→ ⺌ These tips all stem from The Write Practice. Credit for this portion goes to them. Disclaimer: I have added my own words, advice, and paraphrased sections of the article.
"A successful story ending has three essential components. If you're stuck or don't know what to do, you can begin sketching and drafting rough ideas for each of these and see how they work together. Then, with something resembling a pirate's treasure map, start looking for that elusive ending."
Here's how to do it:
╰─── 𝟬𝟭. Crush with consequences. "Every major story choice is fraught with risk. One of your jobs is to pay that risk off; bringing your protagonist face-to-face with the worst possible outcome of his or her choices."
➳❥ Pixar does this brilliantly. In the movie Inside Out, Joy falls into the "memory dump" pit where everything is forgotten. All hope, it seems, is lost.
➳❥ Or take Ratatouille, where all of Remy and Linguini's fellow chefs abandon them as the food critic waits for an impossibly perfect dish. All hope, again, is lost.
"If your protagonist's choices aren't burdened with tremendous risk, or if his choices haven't "earned" some kind of punishment, then your problem isn't the end, but the middle. The protagonist's journey must be marked with trials, mistakes, and paradigm-shifting choices. And the spark that ignites your ending is crushing your protagonist, and often other characters, with the consequences" of their choices.
╰─── 𝟬𝟮. Surprise with the protagonist's reaction. "The next element of a winning ending requires the protagonist to emerge victorious (physically or morally) from the consequences they have suffered. And for this step to work, it needs one powerful element: Surprising Action.
"First, the protagonist must take some kind of action to get out of the mess they are in, or a "reaction" to the consequences. But it can't be the logical or obvious choice (if there is one). It also can't involve a magical "get out of jail free card," known as deus ex machina. It must be an action that truly resolves the crisis through their own agency.
"Second, it must be a surprising choice. It must be surprising first to the audience, and second to the protagonist. This is where careful planning pays off. When you draft your ending, it allows you to go back and plant the seeds for an authentic-but-surprising reaction to the consequences the protagonist must suffer.
"By planning and rewriting, you will deliver a choice that surprises the reader because they only see the doom and gloom of the pit (Inside Out) or the empty kitchen (Ratatouille). But it must also surprise the protagonist. If they know ahead of time how to get out of the mess then all suspense is lost. When you combine the deep despair of punishment with the shocking joy of a clever, redemptive action, you tell a story that takes your readers on a rollercoaster ride. That's exactly what you want!"
╰─── 𝟬𝟯. Conclude with a denouement. "Once you've taken your reader on the ride of their life, the story needs to properly end. And there's actually one last thing that most readers will want: A denouement, or the point in the story when all the plot threads are tied up."
➳❥ To hearken back to our Pixar examples, the denouement of Inside Out occurs when we see Riley settling into San Francisco life while her five emotions get a new control board.
➳❥ In Ratatouille, the denouement is when Remy narrates that the restaurant, Gusteau's was closed, but the food critic invested in a new café where the protagonist is now a real gourmet chef.
"To define the denouement for your purposes, think of it this way: It answers the question, "How?" If you say, "They lived happily ever after," a denouement briefly shows how that is happening. It gives enough detail to satisfy the reader.
"Out of these three elements, this is the least important. When you plan, be ready to change the details of any denouement you have in your mind. It has the smallest impact on reader experience and satisfaction. It is the bow tied around the present. If the gift stinks, but the bow is nice, the gift still stinks."
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒: 𝐇𝐎𝐖 ⸝⸝ ⇗
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀→ ⺌ These tips all stem from Kay Lewis Writes on Tumblr. Credit for this portion goes to them. Disclaimer: I have added my own words, advice, and paraphrased sections of the article.
(These are the most basic of questions.) For many writers, the hardest part when it comes to ending a story is the how. How do I get started? How should it start? How do I write this in a way that my readers will like? How do I wrap up each character's story? How should the ending sound?
╰─── 𝟬𝟭. Know your ending. ╱ ❝ How do I get started? How should it start? ❞╱ "You have to know it. Figure it out when you're plotting, or in your first two drafts. If you don't know where your finish line is, you're going to be running in zigzags all over the place. Like I said: fine for a first draft, but once you've figured out 'oh, this is how it ends' then you can make a much straighter line from point A to point B.
"This goes double if you're writing a series. Yes, you might have to write out the entire trilogy in its first draft entirety before you go back and start editing. Yes, that means if you're a plotter you should probably plot out the entire series, at least loosely. It will be worth it. I think we've all read a trilogy that has a huge amount of build-up, only to be disappointed in the last book because there was no payoff."
╰─── 𝟬𝟮. Give the readers payoff. ╱ ❝ How do I write this in a way that my readers will like? ❞╱ "If you've done nothing but talk about the great and terrible war that the characters have been preparing for, you should probably give them that great and terrible war.
"OR, if you want to subvert your readers' expectations, you need to give them something with equal pay off to it, that doesn't come entirely out of the left field. For example, if you want there to be a diplomatic solution to this war, it needs to be just as intense, breathtaking, and suspenseful as that battle would have been. Give us witty arguments, sudden allies being made, betrayals being felt, and players rising and falling from power the same way they'd win or lose on the battlefield.
"But if you just stop the battle from happening and everyone goes home? Then all of the readers' excitement was for nothing. Their heart was pounding, their fingers shaking, riding that roller coaster going up only to find there is no drop, you just have to get off and walk down the stairs back to ground level. Disappointing."
╰─── 𝟬𝟯. Know who your characters become. ╱ ❝ How do I wrap up each character's story? ❞╱ "Just as important as plot payoff is, so is character payoff. Have we seen the character go through six books of slow redemption? Have you been framing them as more and more relatable, have the readers been cheering on their improvements? Then maybe don't have that character revert back to their old ways in the last ten pages of your final book (at least, not without warning—we'll talk about that next).
"Just like you should know the end of the plot from the beginning, you should know who the characters are going to end up as. Having big, important events shape your characters is good, but also important is the slow and steady changes that they'll make over the course of the book or series. Not every character needs to change drastically from start to finish, but those that do, have a clear image of who they become and how they're going to get there. Again, the last ten pages aren't the time for a sudden shift in character. Draw it out, don't rush, and let them be true to who they are."
╰─── 𝟬𝟰. Tone. ╱ ❝ How should the ending sound? ❞╱ "Last but not least: decide what the tone of your ending will be. What's the taste you want to leave in your readers' mouths? Hopeful? Tragic? Warm and fuzzy? Unless this is what you're explicitly going for, bitter probably doesn't belong on the list. But bitter is what a lot of endings end up being if they're not thought through from the beginning."
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐒𝐍'𝐓 𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 ⸝⸝ ⇗
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀→ ⺌ This section stems from tlbodine on Tumblr. Credit for this portion goes to them.
"The chapters leading up to a story's ending are usually going to be fast-paced and action-packed. All kinds of stuff will happen. Emotions will be running high. Huge problems will be conquered. And then...what? It's just....over?
"This is where a lot of endings fall flat (and again, some really great books have boring or downright forgettable endings, and we love them anyway). You have to give the reader/viewer a glimpse of what life looks like after the bad guy is defeated/the problem is solved but don't spend too much time on" it, because it can become boring.
𝖢𝗅𝖺𝗌𝗌𝗂𝖼 𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗋𝗈𝗉𝖾𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗌𝗈 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗆𝗈𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒'𝗋𝖾 𝖻𝗈𝗋𝖽𝖾𝗋𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗈𝗇 𝖼𝗅𝗂𝖼𝗁𝖾, 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝖾𝗑𝗂𝗌𝗍 𝖻𝖾𝖼𝖺𝗎𝗌𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒'𝗋𝖾 𝖾𝖿𝖿𝖾𝖼𝗍𝗂𝗏𝖾:
*˚‧ The wedding of the two characters in love.
*˚‧ The funeral of the heroically sacrificial character.
*˚‧ The pub scene where the adventurers gather for a drink at the end of their mission.
*˚‧ The hero quietly dying as an old man/woman in a time of peace and prosperity surrounded by loved ones.
"You don't have to use these endings (and depending on your story and genre, please don't) but it's pretty easy to see what they have in common: A cluster of characters gathered for an event that is normal/relatable and gives you an excuse to see how everybody is getting along and provide some emotional catharsis.
"It's a good idea to look at stories you enjoy (ideally in the genre you write) and analyze their endings to see what you like. My personal preference is for an ending that is short and sweet—no more than a chapter—and provides thematic closure to the story's core themes/internal problems.
"One of the ways you can accomplish that short-and-sweet ending is by taking the time to wrap up some of your loose ends before you get to the climax. If you resolve as many subplots as possible before/during the big climax push, you save yourself from some of the "Return of the King" problems where your story seems to have like five different endings, or the "Deathly Hallows" problem where you try to resolve every single plot thread in a single scene.
"You can also get some mileage out of moving the authorial distance camera, so to speak. It's pretty common to shift to a more narrative, expositional distance while wrapping up a story. If that's not working for you, try swinging the other way by just finishing it up with a vignette—a little micro-story showing how the characters are doing now that it's all resolved.
"Some stories don't need a denouement. Sometimes you can just end them after the action of the climax. If the question at the heart of the story is resolved, you don't have to keep writing until the characters' lives are perfect. You're not ending every story. You're just ending this one.
➳❥ "So if your story is about a teen standing triumphant against a despotic government—you need to show how they win that battle.
➳❥ "But if your story is about a teen falling in love despite the pressures of that despotic government, you can end the story when the characters get together. You don't have to "fix" the story's government, or change anything else about the world to make that happily-ever-after really happy (unless you want to)."
Remembering this will help you avoid the too-big-boulder problem mentioned earlier, and save you a lot of stress. Because your story doesn't equal your worldbuilding (and a lot of issues from endings can come from forgetting that).
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝟕 𝐓𝐈𝐏𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀 𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 ⸝⸝ ⇗
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀→ ⺌ These tips all stem from Now Novel. Credit for this portion goes to them. Disclaimer: I have added my own words, advice, and paraphrased sections of the article.
╰─── 𝟬𝟭. Build to an intriguing climax. A great ending is all in the build-up. It's important to remember that a tightly-woven climax isn't as important for every genre. "A novel that relies on twists, turns, and tension (a murder mystery or thriller, for example), will require a stronger build-up. Books that aren't as reliant on suspense, such as romance novels, also benefit from a satisfying build-up. Placing complications between your would-be lovers that get in the way of their happy union until the final hour keeps readers interested in what will happen next."
𝖧𝗈𝗐 𝖽𝗈 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖻𝗎𝗂𝗅𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝖺 𝖼𝗅𝗂𝗆𝖺𝖼𝗍𝗂𝖼 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅 𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗂𝗇𝗀?
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝟎𝟏. Make it harder for characters to reach their objectives—what stands in their way?
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝟎𝟐. If applicable to your story, increase the characters' peril.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝟎𝟑. Vary pace—write shorter scenes and chapters to increase momentum.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝟎𝟒. Keep the largest confrontations between characters for your final chapters. Hint at their approach.
╰─── 𝟬𝟮. Make sure your ending is earned, not improbable. "A story with an improbable ending is frustrating because it rings untrue. Usually, the ending that makes sense follows the simple logic of cause and effect. This doesn't mean that you cannot have an outlandish, fantastical, or unexpected ending. There are very few absolute rules when it comes to writing fiction. Yet laying the groundwork for your ending and building the anticipation of a specific outcome (even if the outcome itself proves different from what you've led readers to expect), creates a sense of direction and objective.
"An irritatingly unlikely ending may result if you get yourself into a tricky tangle in your plot. Many fictional characters are a little too lucky and are saved by the bell. Be careful of letting a strong sense of cause and effect slip away in your closing chapters for the sake of convenient resolution."
╰─── 𝟬𝟯. Leave room for readers' imagination. An ending doesn't have to be the last nail in your character's coffin. Many readers were frustrated by J.K. Rowling's epilogue (I know I was) to her Harry Potter series. "Rowling's prologue leaped forward in time, like the 'where are they now' segments that roll with the credits in documentaries. For some, this seemed like a ploy on Rowling's part. It seemed like a device to announce there would be no more novels in the series (or, at least, novels about her three main characters' student years).
"Story endings that leave room for readers' imaginations are enjoyable because readers get to picture what comes next, without being told. A little mystery and a little bit of incompletion remains. This is especially important when you write a series. Make sure that your final chapters convey a sense of something new developing or beginning, even as this particular narrative thread draws to a close."
╰─── 𝟬𝟰. Bring home how your characters have changed. "Story lies in change. Showing how your characters have changed at the end of your novel as they've reached (or fallen short of) their objectives creates a satisfying sense of development. In your novel's closing chapters, show how your characters have changed. What have they learned and how have they grown? You can convey this information via actions, dialogue, or narration."
╰─── 𝟬𝟱. Use the '5 W's' to create finality. "In addition to showing how characters have changed, use the '5 w's'—who, what, why, where, and when—as a whole. Shifting to a climactic location for your closing chapters, for example, adds to the sense of an ultimate destination.
➳❥ "This is what Tolkien does effectively in his Lord of the Rings cycle. Frodo and Sam venture further and further into the heartland of Mordor, the domain of Tolkien's villain. The change of place—to the homeland of Middle Earth's malevolence—helps to establish a sense of climax and direction.
"Similarly, use shifts in setting along with character goals and motivations to show that your story is reaching its final destination."
╰─── 𝟬𝟲. Keep in mind how not to end a novel. "A bad ending that fizzles out or miraculously rescues characters from a tricky situation can ruin a good book. Anti-climax, of course, is a valid literary device in itself."
𝖶𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗐𝗋𝗂𝗍𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅'𝗌 𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗂𝗇𝗀, 𝖺𝗏𝗈𝗂𝖽:
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝟎𝟏. Cliched twist endings (e.g. 'it was all just a dream')
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝟎𝟐. Miraculous rescues (lightning strikes the villain just as they're about to kill your protagonist? Thanks, nature!)
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝟎𝟑. Total lack of resolution/continuity (the protagonist spends the entire novel preparing to face the antagonist but decides to move to the Bahamas instead?)
╰─── 𝟬𝟳. Think about the types of story endings that would suit your book best. There are many different options when you decide how to end a book. If you want some ideas, I highly recommend Googling 'Ways to End a Story.' There are a lot of types, and I don't have it in me to put them all in here, but I'll give a few examples.
➳❥ The full circle. Everything comes back to the beginning scenes.
➳❥ The surprise twist. This one is quite self-explanatory; keep your readers guessing to the end.
➳❥ Choose your own adventure. Some novels' endings are open to interpretation. The reader must decide how to interpret the outcome with fewer certainties.
➳❥ Happily-ever-after. Everything resolves tidily, fulfilling expectations established in the course of the novel.
"These are just some possible approaches. Think about the structure of your novel. Will your ending make readers see the preceding chapters in a new light? Or will it simply confirm the impressions and expectations you've fostered up to this point regarding how your story will pan out? If you're not sure what type of ending to use, perhaps write multiple endings and let them sit awhile. Read through your entire manuscript from the beginning and see which flows best and makes the most cohesive sense for your story as a whole."
I hope these were all helpful and if you have any questions or want more tips on this topic, let me know!
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❛ YOU 𝑪𝑨𝑵'𝑻 𝑩𝑹𝑰𝑩𝑬 THE DOOR
ON 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑾𝑨𝒀 TO THE 𝚂𝙺𝚈. ❜
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