I've been thinking a lot about endings lately and what makes an ending satisfying. Part of this is because I'm working on a novel where I completely redid the ending (which I loved, but it didn't work for various reasons) and I'm trying to make this new ending feel satisfying to me even though it's not quite what I originally envisioned.
Here are some things I've noticed about endings, in no particular order:
1. Endings are only truly satisfying to me when I care about the characters. If I don't care about them, then why do I care whether or not they get what they want?
2. There has to be an emotional conclusion after the climax.
Recently, I saw the final Harry Potter movie, probably like most of you. (And if you haven't seen it, you might want to skip down to #3, although this won't be a huge spoiler.) While there were some fantastic things in the movie (I loved Ron and Hermione's kiss), the ending didn't work for me, and I'm not talking about the epilogue part. It bothered me that I didn't feel satisfied with the ending. I mean, I just went through 8 movies and Voldemort is finally gone and I feel...meh. Why was that? I finally figured out that, while Voldemort was defeated, there wasn't an emotional conclusion to that. There were no fireworks or celebrations or anything to acknowledge that WOW! Voldemort was finally defeated!!!! In fact, no one even talked to Harry as he walked past them following that fight. Yes, people died and the fight was long and hard, but they WON! I wanted that to be celebrated or at least dealt with on an emotional level.
3. There has to be enough time spent on the falling action.
I loved the BBC show Lark Rise to Candleford. It was a quiet show without any major villains, yes, but they did so many wonderful things. But the series ending was, uh, not the best. I don't know what happened with the show or why they decided to cancel it, but the final episode felt like a whirlwind of people getting together and left me baffled. It all happened way too quickly, especially for a series finale, and I didn't feel emotionally invested because there wasn't enough time spent on the ending to feel satisfied with it.
4. The ending has to fit the story. If it's a light, fun tale, it can't end with everyone dying (unless the jarring juxtaposition is what you were going for) and if it's a dark, dark story it probably shouldn't end with rainbows and sparkles and spun sugar castles.
I read a book a year or so ago because the premise sounded hilarious. And it was. But then it turned dark and (in my opinion) rather melodramatic. The ending was supposed to be moving, but it wasn't because that wasn't the book I wanted to read. The ending didn't fit at all with the beginning and it just didn't work.
Endings don't always have to be happy, but they have to work with the story and fit the tale.
5. I love endings that bring things back full circle to the beginning, but things have changed. The best example I can think of it How to Train Your Dragon, which is one of my favorite movies ever. I love what they do to make the ending shadow the beginning. Not all endings have to do this to be satisfying, but I think it's really cool when they do.
What about you? What makes an ending satisfying to you?
Great post. I've thought a lot about on of my endings because it's gotten mixed reviews from people who've read the book. But I feel it's the only way to go, especially with what comes in a next book. But I do worry and stress about it and your post has made me wonder if it's too out of tone compared to the beginning.
ReplyDeleteMelanie--Endings are hard! (At least I think so.) It's especially hard with mixed reviews. I wish I had more advice, but I would say to listen to what they have to say, think about it, and then go with what you think is right for your book. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteOh, I completely agree with the Harry Potter ending! I was disappointed that it wasn't more like the book, you know, in the Great Hall with everyone standing around. But oh well. I still really enjoyed the movie.
ReplyDeleteAnd you make some great points. I'm actually half wondering if my own ending for RUMP is a little out of tune with the beginning? You weren't talking about my book were you? You can tell, I won't mind.
I also think it's hard to balance tying lose ends with leaving some things open. You want resolution of course, but you also don't want to wrap everything up so pretty and tight that your readers never imagine more stories for your characters, whether you write more or not. I think that was one of the many flaws of the ending of a certain vampire series. :)
Personally I like a fair amount of resolution and happiness, a sliver of remorse or reflection, and a brief look to the future.
Wonderful post!
Liesl--No I was definitely not talking about RUMP! I love RUMP! This book had a drastically different beginning from ending.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point about tying things up. It IS a hard balance, but I do think that at least the major plot point should be wrapped up. I recently read a book that only wrapped up the love story and left everything hanging. But I'm also irritated with super tight endings, so, yeah, I think it has to be a balance.
Thanks for commenting!
Great post! The ending of a story is very important to keep the reader thinking about it after it ends. It is difficult to balance the ending of a trilogy, and am I'm trying to end my novel in a way that my readers will want to find out what happens in the next book of the series.
ReplyDeleteOh good, you had me sweats! Such a tricky thing, those endings. And I finished Divergent and loved the ending, minus one little thing that's starting to bug me in a lot of dystopian novels, but dang, I don't want to spoil for others. Still, I'd like to converse about it sometime.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I gave you the Liebster award on my blog. Any bets on how many times I'm going to comment here?
ReplyDeleteJennifer--I agree, series are very difficult! Not only do you have to have a complete end of the novel, it has to be an incomplete end to the series. Good luck with yours!
ReplyDeleteLiesl--We will definitely have to talk about Divergent sometime. And thanks for the award!