T. P. Jagger here with another video as The
3-Minute Writing Teacher. For today’s writing
tip, we’re going to look at how to write
an effective ending to a story. So, let’s
begin . . . looking at the end.
Let’s look at three dos for how to write
an effective ending:
1) DO plant seeds early in a story for things
to come in the end. It could be something
a character says. Or something a character does.
Or some object that appears, even if only briefly.
If a pipe wrench is a key element in a story’s climax,
I can plant it in an
earlier scene to foreshadow what’s to come
in the climactic resolution.
2) DO make sure the ending is logical. An
ending has to make sense with everything that’s
come before. That’s not to say an ending
has to be expected—I’d much rather read
a book and have the ending surprise me. But
even when readers get surprised at the end
of the story, they should be able to reflect
back on everything that’s come before and
see how all the pieces fit together, even
if they don’t recognize it at the time.
Think of a story like a jigsaw puzzle that’s
being pieced together without having the picture
on the box. Readers won’t know what the
final picture is until they put it all together
in the end. But the writer still has to provide
all of the pieces throughout the story, even
if the readers won’t recognize how important
a given piece might be when it’s first introduced.
3) And finally, DO avoid the obvious. If your
readers will have your story’s ending figured
out way before they get there, it’s probably
not a very effective ending. So as you write,
force yourself beyond the obvious. If you
come up with an ending that even leaves you
surprised, you’re probably going to surprise
your readers, too.
Now let’s consider two don’ts for writing
endings.
1) DON’T introduce totally new information
you didn’t setup earlier in the story. This
connects to making a story’s ending logical.
I read a novel once that had me guessing and
anticipating the ending the entire way. As
events unfolded, I kept wondering: How’s
that possible? I was looking forward to seeing
how the author was going to put it all together.
I was ready to be amazed. Then . . . I got
to the end of the story.
The author provided some supernatural explanation
for all the seemingly unexplainable earlier
events. This would have been fine if there’d
been groundwork that had been laid for a supernatural
explanation. But . . . no. There was no such
groundwork that existed. The ending wasn’t
logical. It didn’t fit with everything that
came before. It felt like the author had written
himself into a corner and got to the end of
the story like, “Ah! Oh, no! What am I going
to do? Okay. Supernatural!” Foo. Boom. Got
out. That was the last book I ever read by
that author.
2) DON’T have an ending scene that’s disconnected
from the story’s climax. In fact, what happens
at the true end of your story should be because
of the story’s climax.
Think of any Disney movie you’ve ever seen.
For example, in the end of The Lion King,
Simba becomes king and his new cub is introduced
to the other animals. However, the ending
is only possible because Uncle Scar is defeated
in the story’s climax. The events in the
climax should determine what happens as you
wrap up the story’s true ending.
Regardless of how you choose to end your story,
keep in mind the dos and don’ts for an effective
ending.
Thanks for joining me and, I guess for now,
this is . . .
THE. END.
