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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 ...
- Resolved Ending
- Unresolved Ending
- Open-Ended Or Ambiguous Ending
- Expanded Ending Or Epilogue
- Unexpected Or Twist Ending
- Full Circle Ending
- Now It’S Your Turn
Resolved ending is where all threads of the novel are clearly and satisfyingly resolved. There shouldn’t be any loose ends. Also, readers shouldn’t have any lingering questions. Here are two extreme ends of the spectrum (but you can also finish with an ending that simply resolves everything):
An unresolved ending is inconclusive. Such ending also leaves the readers with more questions than answers. This cliffhanger is also a popular choice for books in a series. This frustration where you don’t know how the novel ends will encourage you to continue reading the next book in the series.
An open-ended or ambiguous ending is open to interpretation because the ending isn’t clear. There are many open possibilities which can go many ways. Readers are actively invited to think about the events and clues in the story and draw a conclusion. An unresolved ending doesn’t give enough information so readers won’t know what happens next but an...
Expanded ending, as the name suggests, expands beyond the events of the narrative. It is usually told in the epilogue of a book. This might include a jump forward in time (for example, 3 years later in the future) or a change in perspective. It may also reframe the way readers have been thinking about the story. One advantage of this ending is that...
An unexpected or twist ending is something that readers didn’t expect nor see it coming. It could be earth-shattering, clever or subtle. A good twist, however, is actually one that is inevitable where the writer has left clues all along. Readers will appreciate the subtle hints and plot twists it took to get there. Also, please don’t end with “ever...
As its name suggests, this ending brings the story full circle—it ends where it begins. You could use the same sentence for the first and last sentence of your novel. Or you could end with your protagonist being in the same situation at the beginning of your story. I find such endings interesting because it’s like returning to the original point. H...
Have you ended your fiction novel with any of the above endings? How was it? Do consider getting novel planning worksheets. Etsyhas many such printables, including word count trackers, novel outlines, character profiles, worldbuilding basics and more.
- 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?
- Resolved Ending. In a resolved ending, all questions are answered and no loose strings are left untied. They have no room for continuation as everything has already been clearly presented to the reader.
- Unresolved Ending. Unresolved endings leave the audience with more questions than answers. There is some degree of resolution but the audience is largely left wanting more of the story.
- Unexpected Ending. An unexpected ending is one that catches your audience by surprise. Some are subtle and clever, while others will make you shake your fist at the pages.
- Expanded Ending. An expanded ending, also called an epilogue, depicts a scene that is beyond the events of the story itself. Often, it jumps forward in time, explaining what happens to the main characters years later.
Jun 1, 2018 · A dénouement is the resolution of a plot, consisting of the final moments in a fictional work — the closing sequence after the climax of a story, where the narrative tension has reached its highest point.
‹ Back to blog. There is a certain magic in a well written ending. It must be both satisfying and surprising, unexpected and also perfectly fitting. But where do you stop? Which sentences are the last sentences? In this post, we’ll look at 100 ending lines from a diverse group of authors, both novelists and short story writers.
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Apr 18, 2022 · Think of the ending of Inception, with the spinning top, and you’d have a simple, masterful example of how a single, mundane object can throw the entire narrative in disarray. So let’s take a look at multiple endings: what’s their effect, how to gauge whether you need them, and how it all comes together.
