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For all those struggling to reach the end of their story’s journey, let’s take a look at six common reasons why you might be stuck, and ways you can overcome those obstacles. 1. You don’t know how to end your story. It’s a pretty obvious reason: you can’t actually finish writing your story because you have no actual idea how it should ...
Mar 17, 2023 · How to end a story in 7 steps. To help you create a story ending that is unexpected and satisfying, we've turned to the professional editors on Reedsy and asked for their top tips on wrapping up your book. How to end a story: Find your ending in the beginning; Completion goes hand-in-hand with hope; Keep things fresh; Make sure it’s really ...
Sep 13, 2024 · There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to writing an ending. The tone, message, and genre of your story will often determine the best type of conclusion. Here are a few common types of endings and how they can shape your story’s impact: The Full Circle Ending.
- 6 Ideas to Consider For How to End A Story
- Conclude Your Story in A Neat and Tidy Way
- Leave Your Reader Hanging from A Cliff
- Provide A Twist in The Tale
- Play Around with Ambiguity and Unreliability
- End on An Epilogue
- Choose A Cyclical Ending
- Story Ending FAQs
Here are six types of story endings that have stood the test of time along with some general tips on ending a story the right way.
Sometimes, the best way to end a story is by offering a clear resolution that neatly ties up all the loose ends and plot points. If you’ve ever felt a plotline has been forgotten about or ignored, you’ll know how irritating it can be. Making sure the fate of everyone in your book is clearly explained can avoid that dilemma. Examples of this type of...
Cliffhanger endings leave some elements of a story unresolved. Deciding to end your story on a cliffhanger is important if you want to leave readers eagerly anticipating the next installment in a fiction series. It’s important to note that a cliffhanger ending should be a conscious choice. The majority of plot points should be resolved and the endi...
A twist ending is a great choice if you can pull it off effectively. This type of story ending can have the highest level of impact but is also very difficult to get right. Twist endings typically run into two problems. First, readers may be able to spot your twist coming a mile away. There’s nothing more annoying than a big ‘reveal’ at the end of ...
Some readers detest not knowing exactly how a story ends. Others love the chance to come to their own conclusion. The suitability of an ambiguous ending is also partially down to your choice of genre. For example, romance readers typically want a clear ending where the outcome they’ve been rooting for the whole time is given to them clearly. Reader...
Epilogues can be an effective way of adding a sense of realism or depth to your story. By suggesting that events carried on far after the main action ends, it gives your reader the feeling that the story took place in a believable world rather than one that existed purely to serve the plot. However, sometimes epilogue endings can feel a little unwi...
If your story begins and ends similarly, giving readers the feeling that events have come full circle, you’ve employed a cyclical ending. A cyclical ending isn’t the same thing as simply ending things as they started. Even though the story might begin and end in the same place, the readers should have been on a journey alongside the characters who ...
How do you end a short story?
You can end a short story in all of the same ways that you can end a full story. An epilogue ending is perhaps a less likely choice due to the constraint on length you’re working with but is still technically possible.
What is the ending of a story called?
You might see the ending of a story referred to as its climax, conclusion, denouement, or simply ending. These terms are all slightly different in meaning although they are often used interchangeably.
How do you write a sad ending?
Sometimes, sad endings linger in our hearts and minds in a way that happy endings don’t. Think about the power of Romeo and Juliet’s ending, for example, or the movie adaptation of Stephen King’s The Mist. Writing a sad ending to a story requires the readers to care about the characters. A sense of avoidable tragedy can often increase the emotional gut-punch of this type of ending.
- Take Them by Surprise. (Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None) Surprise works every single time. That’s because us humans are just curious creatures.
- Play on Their Sentiments with an Elegiac Fade Out. (The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera) Milan Kundera takes a very different approach when he wraps up his The Unbearable Lightness of Being
- Throw Them a Punchline. (Animal Farm, George Orwell) With this one, you have to be careful. Do you know that situation when Uncle Albert at the holiday lunch table makes a big fuss about his upcoming joke, but the punchline is almost non-existent?
- Leave Open Questions and Create Suspense. (Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell) If you want to tickle your reader with suspense, cue an open ending: Ok, the Apaches are defeated, but will they be back again?
6 Clever Ways To Achieve The Perfect Ending To Your Story. You’ve done all the hard work. The amazing story you’ve been writing is 99% finished; now you just have to end it. Cue aimless staring at the computer screen, right? Ending a story can be an excruciating and frustrating experience.
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Dec 10, 2023 · In this article, our writing coach and acclaimed author Mahsuda Snaith shares four ways to end a story that leaves readers satisfied: Great story endings should feel inevitable... but not predictable; Great story endings need to feel plausible; A good story ending ties up loose ends; A great ending reveals your message (without becoming a ...
