 Drama: August 07, 2013 Issue [#5820] |
  Drama
This week: 7 Weak Story Endings to Avoid Edited by: NickiD89  
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| Like many of you, I've considered myself a writer my whole life. But in 2007, I shifted out of hobbyist mode, started writing for an audience, and embarked on the exciting journey towards publication. As I continue on that path and delve ever deeper into the craft, I feed an insatiable appetite for creative writing theory. I seek out how-to books and workshop experiences to augment and amplify whatever talent I possess. For those of you like me, here's a little theory to appease your hunger. |
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7 Weak Story Endings to Avoid
A story, like all “good things,” must come to an end. The Ending, also known as Denouement, is as important to the story as the Beginning and the Middle . A good ending leaves the reader with a sense that the story has come to a logical, satisfying conclusion. For writers, it's important to remember what an ending shouldn't do. By understanding what constitutes a weakly executed ending, we're more likely to avoid these pitfalls in our writing.
A story ending SHOULDN’T:
 Leave Unanswered Questions – Regardless of the length of a story, be it flash fiction or a novel, the ending should tie up all the loose plot strings. All issues, minor or major, introduced in a story must serve a purpose and move the plot forward. By the end of the story, the reader should have answers to all questions posed in the narration and have learned how the character(s) cleared all their obstacles.
Make the Reader Decide What Happened – You want your reader to feel satisfied by the outcome of the story. This doesn’t mean you need to spoon-feed exactly what happens in a play-by-play commentary. Readers enjoy having enough information to imagine what happens next, beyond The End. What frustrates most readers is realizing the story has led them to a plot intersection, and the author has placed on their shoulders the burden of deciding how the story ends.
Be Too Abrupt – Have you ever read a story that was chugging along at an enjoyable pace, and suddenly it was over? This usually happens when the climactic scene is pushed up against the ending, and the writer skipped right over the falling action. Authors need to be mindful of the pacing of events and manipulate the emotional impact each moment has on the reader. The reader should be left with the impression the ending was the natural conclusion to the story, the terrain that leveled out at the bottom of the hill, rather than feel like the plot had been pushed off a cliff.
Be Too Long – Another pacing problem occurs when the time between the climactic scene and the story’s end is too long. The story seems to fizzle out. All the excitement of earlier scenes is forgotten. If your ending is too long-winded, you risk boring your reader.
Be Illogical – Your ending must make sense on two fronts, Plot and Character(s):
 Plot: Resolution of the central problem has to be achieved by means of a logical chain of events. Suspension of belief is sacrificed when the ending promotes a breakdown of cause and effect. The reader simply won’t buy it.
Characters: If during the story’s ending, a character behaves in a way that is in direct contrast with his or her established personality, with no logical explanation for the shift in behavior, the reader is going to raise an eyebrow. The character, and the ending, will feel false and contrived.
Be Too Predictable – Readers love a story with a twist. It doesn't have to be something earth-shattering. However, a creative ending that sheds new light on what the reader believed to be true will ‘up’ the entertainment factor of the whole story. On the other hand, if the reader has suspected a predictable ending since the rising action and his hunch proves true by the end, the entire story will seem uninspired and weak.
Have a “Night in Shining Armor” Arrive and Save the Day – Readers want to feel emotionally invested in the main character’s future. They embrace the hero or heroine, who is flawed with conflicts s/he must rise above in the course of the story. When readers have been rooting for the heroine, cheering her on through her struggles, they aren’t going to appreciate someone else swooping in at the end of the story and saving the day.
The ending you write is important to the overall success of your story. It will show how far your characters have come since the beginning and wrap up their story. A clever ending leaves your readers inspired, satisfied, and intrigued. And even the strongest writing will fall short on the reader’s entertainment yardstick if the ending is weak.
Question For Next Time: As a reader, do you prefer it when the author describes how the story ends, or do you like it better when you are able to conclude the ending by the author's closing descriptions and/or character dialogue?
Thanks for reading!
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Question For Next Time: As a reader, do you prefer it when the author describes how the story ends, or do you like it better when you are able to conclude the ending by the author's closing descriptions and/or character dialogue?
Last Month's Question: Published authors: Have you written significantly more stories than you have sold? Aspiring authors: Does it encourage or discourage you to hear a successful writer say the majority of work by all fiction writers is unpublishable? Here's what readers said:
Vampyr14  -- Great post. It's so true that you can't measure your success by publication. I've published oodles of short stories now, but I still have far more that are unpublished. Not to mention I've just started my 10th novel even though the other nine languish in un-publishedville.
By my measure, you are extremely successful! I'm struggling through my first novel, so you having penned nine finished drafts and working on a tenth? That makes you a writing rock star in my book! Congrats!!
Quick-Quill  -- I have had 3 stories published. I AM a published author.  I write because the story moves me. I would love to have a novel published. I found writing and getting reviews makes me a better writer. I am a much better writer now than I was when I wrote my first two novels. I love WDC!
Congrats on the publishing credentials! And I totally agree; the opportunity for reader feedback here at WDC is hugely important to an author's craft. The power of an insightful review cannot be overstated.
BIG BAD WOLF Feeling Thankful  -- (Submitted Item: "Monster Cowboys The Book" ) No such thing as unpublishable- just have to find the right publisher.
I would agree with that statement.
Mara ♣ McBain  -- I have a lot of manuscripts gathering virtual dust! Will any of them ever see the light of publication? I can honestly say not in their current state. I have a couple that friends urge me to polish up and put up on Amazon but I was reading through one of these the other day and it took head hopping to whole new levels! LOL It shows that I'm learning as I go. I'm developing my craft. As much as I love my darlings I know that my 2nd novel, Club Ties, was better than Club Justice and McCade's Way was better than both of them. SO not only do you learn from the ones that get tucked away in a drawer, but also from your "successes."
This is so great for other writers to hear! And it also reminds me of something I always tell myself: No matter how much I don't like something I've written, whether it was a false start to a short story, a scene-gone-nowhere from my novel, or simply character development notes on a project that never got finished, never toss out those writings. You never know what you'll learn from them, or what you'll discover about yourself as a writer when re-reading them the next day (or years later). Great comment, Mara!
mblank -- {Submitted Item: "Invalid Item" I'm just wetting my feet drama, and I've been having trouble getting feedback on this piece. I'd appreciate a spot in your newsletter, if possible. Thanks!
It'd be my pleasure!
See you all back here on September 4, 2013. Until then, have a great month!
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