Are we nearly there yet?

The late, great Sir Terry Prachett advised writers to take the pressure off and write an ending even if it’s not the real or final ending. Writers’ HQ (brilliant resource) asks us if we are plotters (writing to a defined plot) or pantsers (pretty much making it up as we go along). Epilogues seem to be back in vogue with everyone needing to know what happened after the happy ever after (WHATHEA?). Readers remember the end, not the beginning (and sometimes to be fair, not even the middle).

So the question remains does the end justify the means?

As part of the MA, we are asked to consider the different types of ending and how we find them. Novels and short-stories have their own rules but generally there are six types of endings (according to Masterclass.com)

1. Resolved ending: These tie up all your plotlines and answer all of your reader’s questions. They don’t necessarily have to be happy. Think Agatha Christie and her collecting of suspects to resolve the crime.
2. Unresolved ending: Everyone loves a cliffhanger (don’t they?). Actually, no I don’t. I get incredibly frustrated when something is left unresolved. However, it is a brilliant device to use when writing a series. For an unresolved ending to work, the reader must understand the bigger picture. They have to know that another book is coming that will answer their questions. Fantasy sagas are famous for this.
3. Expanded ending: aka The Epilogue.
4. Unexpected ending or Twist: The trick here is make sure that your reader doesn’t see it coming until they’ve seen it but then make it seem like they should have known it was going to happen all along (easy right?).
5. Ambiguous ending: Unlike the unresolved ending, this one can be left open for the reader to interpret. These can also be called ‘open closures’. For me this walks alongside those ambiguous characters that could be good people doing bad things or vice verse. A recent example of this is Delia Owens’ Where the Crawdads Sing. The ending (no spoilers) was most heatedly discussed in my book group as we had different opinions of the protagonist’s guilt.
6. Tied ending or Circular: This is where your protagonist ends up where they began, having undergone some transformation. The resolution of the Hero’s Journey has to be meaningful however to make it worthwhile for your readers.

The ending should always be about your main character to justify your readers engagement with them. Side plots and supporting characters also need to reach some sort of conclusion even it is the acceptance that they will remain unresolved. It needs to be striking but not overly contrived, clear but not so easy to decipher that your reader feels no sense of satisfaction at having concluded the journey.

Which ever way you find your ending, I have found it useful to cut the last paragraph/scene and ask myself if it helps or hinders the readers’ understanding. Although fledgling writers often go for full closure, descending into sentimentality for the sake of it can lead to a squishy end which may not be in keeping with the rest of the narrative. Much better, I feel to aim, with an arrow, for the truth of the story. Life is messy. Endings can be too.

I’m a final destination writer. I know vaguely what country I need to be in but haven’t yet decided on the city. There is usually a theme and most definitely a loose plot, but often the ending doesn’t come into focus until at least 3/4 of the way through the work and often isn’t where I thought it would be. My denouements change, usually as a result of character development which shifts the narrative considerably. This entails a lot of retrospective rewrites as I have to go back and include all the clues, which can then change the beginning. I have considered writing an entire story from end to start but that would be madness.

Wouldn’t it?