Endings: Happily ever after

I don’t know about you, but I always hate it when a good story ends. I was once talking to someone about how much I hated a good movie, book, or song ending.

“That’s because you love stories,” the person told me. I’ve remembered that ever since.

The first time I completed the Harry Potter series, finished The Chronicles of Narnia the first time, heard my mom read the last page of The Lord of the Rings, and listened to the final note of my favorite song called Merchant Prince (epic music, of course), I was sad. Why? Because I wanted the stories to never end. They were so good that I wished the ending would never come.

But, of course, every story has its ending, and it’s up to the writers to find a good one. Even if it’s concluding the ten-volume series you’ve been writing for as many years, or coming up with the last words for your first book, all stories have to come to a close sometime.

So in this blog post I’ll kinda tell you about the things a good ending should have. But don’t forget: the ending of a book is also a beginning. For every door you close, another opens. I always imagine that the characters of my first trilogy live on beyond the back cover. New stories await for you to write.

Don’t forget another thing. Just because the ending of the book is the last pages doesn’t mean it will be the last thing you write for that book. Remember my blog post about beginnings? In many ways, the ending can share many of the same properties. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get it just right. Sometimes you know the ending before you start the beginning. So if you’re not quite sure what to do, don’t stress over it. The right ending will come to you with time.

So, what exactly should the ending of your story look like?

A good ending needs to accomplish several things. First, and most importantly, it needs to adequately provide a conclusion the events in the main story. Second, it should be satisfactory, something that gives the reader a sense of “rightness” at how it ends. Last, it needs to make sense.

Let me explain. An ending should tie everything together, explain why it all happened. You need to say why the good side won, who the murderer was, have the main character get married. This is the time for all the answers, unless you don’t want to have quite everything explained. Sometimes leaving a little mystery is good for making the reader think about your story after they finished reading it. In my final chapter of the trilogy I mentioned, my main character finally discovers that he unexpectedly loves someone who he hadn’t expected. I also provide final thoughts on the fates of other important characters.

What was the most impactful ending of a story you’ve ever read? Perhaps it was a tragedy where both of the lovers die. Maybe it was a romance, where they all lived happily ever after. Was it bittersweet, almost everything turning out well, with the sacrificing himself to save the others? Whatever the ending, part of the reason why it impacted you was because it fit the story. You need to find that touchy spot where you weave the final events together in a way that suits how the story went, what should happen, and how the conclusion feels like it’s what the story deserves.

Finally, the ending needs to make sense. If you were writing a romance, it just wouldn’t be right for the two main characters to decide they don’t leave each other after all, and move their separate ways, should it? Your tragedy shouldn’t end with everyone surviving after all (sorry!), and the mystery doesn’t (usually) end with the detective being the murderer.

So now it’s up to you to take those three properties to make your ending. It’s time to close the door. Your characters made it to the final chapter, and now you need to figure out what to do with them. With those three guidelines, you have what it takes to make your ending one that will be remembered.