Post by Kim Wilkins on May 2, 2005 17:21:59 GMT 10
Hi all
I've just written an article for the Queensland Writers' Centre to promote a workshop I'm running in July. I thought I'd post the article here for you to read. It's about writing a good ending.
Kim
Where Will It All End?
If you want to write the kind of story where people will stay up all night turning pages then gasp when they read the final scene (with joy, with sadness, with relief, with disbelief), you've got to get your ending right. A fantastic, memorable ending is an art, of course. It depends on seamless writing, finely-tuned characterisation, and brutally effective plotting (if you want to learn those, you'll have to come to my suspense workshop). But here are a few practical ways to think about your story's ending and how you can make it a killer.
First, I'd better define what I mean by ending. Think of it in terms of the theatre. It's not just the final scene (though I will talk about final scenes). The ending is the whole final act, where you assemble your characters in the right place, in the right frame of mind, at the right time for the denouement.
Get Plot Proportion Right
It goes without saying that the ending won't be right unless the beginning and the middle are right. While there's not enough space to go into beginnings and middles in detail here, it is important to note that each of these pieces must be in the right proportion. The beginning should take up roughly 20% to 25% of the story, introducing the characters, the conflict, the setting and so on. The middle should be the largest part of the story, maybe 60% to 70%, where the development happens in a measured and steadily-building way. The last part, no more than 15%, should be the ending. Too long and the tension dissipates. Too short and your reader will be left feeling disappointed.
Know What Happens In The Final Scene
Many writers will tell you that they haven't a clue how their story will end when they start, and in fact it's anti-creative to know in advance. I don't believe this. If you don't know where the story is going, you are in danger of it just stopping. At the very least, you should have an idea of what feeling the story will end with. Happy? Sad? Powerful? A post-modern open ending of unsettlement which troubles narrative categories (please, God, no)? If the idea of knowing what happens in the final scene bothers you, then remember this: it's your story, you can always change your mind. But having a destination ahead will help keep your journey on the rails.
Link To The Beginning
Simply the most satisfying way to end a story is to link it somehow to the beginning. There is something about the return home that is very pleasing for writers and for readers. You can do this thematically: for example, in my gothic thriller Giants Of The Frost, the prologue includes a memory of Vidar's father telling him, "There is no love, only fate." Love and fate are going to play a part in the ultimate fulfillment of this story, which of these themes is going to win? (I can't tell you, you'll have to buy it; but it might interest you to know that a different theme ends the US version). Alternatively, the link to the beginning can be on a surface level. The Autumn Castle opens with "once upon a time," for example. There's only one way a story like that can end, right? Or is there? Either way, the ending is prefigured in the beginning, ironically or otherwise.
If You Write It Fast, Fix It Slowly
The ending should be fast, and the best way to ensure a fast read is to write in a blazing white-heat. This shouldn't be a problem as most writers will tell you that by the time they're near the end they simply can't stop. The last page is dragging them forward, the story must be told and nothing (housework, crying toddlers, the need to eat or use the toilet etc) can stop it. It's quite common for me to write 8000 words in a day when I'm near the end of a story, ideally in a hotel with full room service and no telephones. But, if you write it fast you must go back and fix it slowly. Fast writing is often flat, it has lost touch with its setting, and the characters have become two-dimensional. You need to combine that wonderful pace of fast writing with the attention to detail and feeling that characterises all good stories. So speed to the end, by all means, but give yourself a lot of space afterwards to edit in a detached and methodical way.
Give It Some Weight
Honour your readers. They have come all this way with you, don't cop out and end lamely. Possible lame endings include: the main character wakes up and finds it was all a dream; ditto but there is a rose on her pillow just like the rose carried by the devilishly handsome villain in her dream; the evil sadist who has been begging for comeuppance since page one escapes at the last moment (possibly into a sequel: sequels are the scourge of good endings); characters who have never even been mentioned before arrive to save the day; or, your blisteringly good crime thriller ends with an experimental final scene along the lines of "who can really say what happens?" (this is an actual ending of a crime thriller I read once; needless to say I hurled it across the room so hard that it cracked the plaster).
Another cause of lame endings is when the writer simply runs out of steam. Rather than pull all the threads together in an authoritative way, you let them slip through your fingers and take the lazy option. For example, if the main character spends the entire story travelling from Bombay to London to murder his mother, make sure his mother is there when he arrives. If she's just nipped off to Ibiza, and he finds love with the house-sitter instead, you have copped out. Readers are expecting a showdown: give it to them.
Know When To Get Out
At least Tolkien had the good grace to warn us there were "Many Partings" in The Lord Of The Rings. Really, an overlong ending outstays its welcome very quickly. The satisfaction of a good ending is undermined by 25% for every page it continues after the final scene. If you really need to get across extra information (summarising where all the characters ended up ten years later… though Lord knows why you'd want to), confine it to a snappy epilogue.
Some Final Words
It is often said that first impressions are the most important. In the world of story-telling, that's not necessarily true. A brilliant ending can redeem an otherwise flawed story, while a disappointing ending can ruin a great one. Think about it: if you read a story with a great ending, you are much more likely to recommend it to a friend than if it had a great beginning. So put some though into it. Last impressions count.
I've just written an article for the Queensland Writers' Centre to promote a workshop I'm running in July. I thought I'd post the article here for you to read. It's about writing a good ending.
Kim
Where Will It All End?
If you want to write the kind of story where people will stay up all night turning pages then gasp when they read the final scene (with joy, with sadness, with relief, with disbelief), you've got to get your ending right. A fantastic, memorable ending is an art, of course. It depends on seamless writing, finely-tuned characterisation, and brutally effective plotting (if you want to learn those, you'll have to come to my suspense workshop). But here are a few practical ways to think about your story's ending and how you can make it a killer.
First, I'd better define what I mean by ending. Think of it in terms of the theatre. It's not just the final scene (though I will talk about final scenes). The ending is the whole final act, where you assemble your characters in the right place, in the right frame of mind, at the right time for the denouement.
Get Plot Proportion Right
It goes without saying that the ending won't be right unless the beginning and the middle are right. While there's not enough space to go into beginnings and middles in detail here, it is important to note that each of these pieces must be in the right proportion. The beginning should take up roughly 20% to 25% of the story, introducing the characters, the conflict, the setting and so on. The middle should be the largest part of the story, maybe 60% to 70%, where the development happens in a measured and steadily-building way. The last part, no more than 15%, should be the ending. Too long and the tension dissipates. Too short and your reader will be left feeling disappointed.
Know What Happens In The Final Scene
Many writers will tell you that they haven't a clue how their story will end when they start, and in fact it's anti-creative to know in advance. I don't believe this. If you don't know where the story is going, you are in danger of it just stopping. At the very least, you should have an idea of what feeling the story will end with. Happy? Sad? Powerful? A post-modern open ending of unsettlement which troubles narrative categories (please, God, no)? If the idea of knowing what happens in the final scene bothers you, then remember this: it's your story, you can always change your mind. But having a destination ahead will help keep your journey on the rails.
Link To The Beginning
Simply the most satisfying way to end a story is to link it somehow to the beginning. There is something about the return home that is very pleasing for writers and for readers. You can do this thematically: for example, in my gothic thriller Giants Of The Frost, the prologue includes a memory of Vidar's father telling him, "There is no love, only fate." Love and fate are going to play a part in the ultimate fulfillment of this story, which of these themes is going to win? (I can't tell you, you'll have to buy it; but it might interest you to know that a different theme ends the US version). Alternatively, the link to the beginning can be on a surface level. The Autumn Castle opens with "once upon a time," for example. There's only one way a story like that can end, right? Or is there? Either way, the ending is prefigured in the beginning, ironically or otherwise.
If You Write It Fast, Fix It Slowly
The ending should be fast, and the best way to ensure a fast read is to write in a blazing white-heat. This shouldn't be a problem as most writers will tell you that by the time they're near the end they simply can't stop. The last page is dragging them forward, the story must be told and nothing (housework, crying toddlers, the need to eat or use the toilet etc) can stop it. It's quite common for me to write 8000 words in a day when I'm near the end of a story, ideally in a hotel with full room service and no telephones. But, if you write it fast you must go back and fix it slowly. Fast writing is often flat, it has lost touch with its setting, and the characters have become two-dimensional. You need to combine that wonderful pace of fast writing with the attention to detail and feeling that characterises all good stories. So speed to the end, by all means, but give yourself a lot of space afterwards to edit in a detached and methodical way.
Give It Some Weight
Honour your readers. They have come all this way with you, don't cop out and end lamely. Possible lame endings include: the main character wakes up and finds it was all a dream; ditto but there is a rose on her pillow just like the rose carried by the devilishly handsome villain in her dream; the evil sadist who has been begging for comeuppance since page one escapes at the last moment (possibly into a sequel: sequels are the scourge of good endings); characters who have never even been mentioned before arrive to save the day; or, your blisteringly good crime thriller ends with an experimental final scene along the lines of "who can really say what happens?" (this is an actual ending of a crime thriller I read once; needless to say I hurled it across the room so hard that it cracked the plaster).
Another cause of lame endings is when the writer simply runs out of steam. Rather than pull all the threads together in an authoritative way, you let them slip through your fingers and take the lazy option. For example, if the main character spends the entire story travelling from Bombay to London to murder his mother, make sure his mother is there when he arrives. If she's just nipped off to Ibiza, and he finds love with the house-sitter instead, you have copped out. Readers are expecting a showdown: give it to them.
Know When To Get Out
At least Tolkien had the good grace to warn us there were "Many Partings" in The Lord Of The Rings. Really, an overlong ending outstays its welcome very quickly. The satisfaction of a good ending is undermined by 25% for every page it continues after the final scene. If you really need to get across extra information (summarising where all the characters ended up ten years later… though Lord knows why you'd want to), confine it to a snappy epilogue.
Some Final Words
It is often said that first impressions are the most important. In the world of story-telling, that's not necessarily true. A brilliant ending can redeem an otherwise flawed story, while a disappointing ending can ruin a great one. Think about it: if you read a story with a great ending, you are much more likely to recommend it to a friend than if it had a great beginning. So put some though into it. Last impressions count.