Some authors don’t like to think about the endings of their stories until they are almost through with their novels. These authors prefer to write the endings that come naturally as a result of the preceding events. Other authors might plan for the ending but opt to use instinct and a lot of trial and error. Although it is the writer’s prerogative to decide how to make an ending, he should make some decisions to pave the way for an ending. The following are some of the things that writers should consider when planning their endings.
Will it be happy, unhappy, or somewhere in the middle?
Regardless of whether you use a formula or not, your novel ending can fall into four main categories that can be determined by answering simple yes/no questions.
The first question depends on your story goal. Keeping this goal in mind, you should think about the outcome that you want for your main character’s pursuit. Is the protagonist going to succeed or not? If the answer is no, your ending will be tragic. If the answer is yes, your ending will be a happy one. You should already know how the story will end when you are writing it. However, it is not unusual if you are still unsure about the ending. You just have to answer a few more questions.
Do you want the characters to experience the right or wrong way of solving a problem?
Do you want readers to learn from the success or failure of the characters?
Some endings are halfway between good and bad. For instance, sometimes characters fail to solve the problem and find out that it is a good thing the problem was never solved. In other cases, they find out that the goal was not worth pursuing. Story endings therefore revolve around two main choices: outcome and judgment. Considering that most story endings usually depend on these two factors, there are four main story endings.
1. A happy ending (comedy): the story goal is achieved and the characters find out that the goal was worth their effort.
2. A tragic ending: the story goal is not met which is bad for the characters.
3. Tragic comedy: the protagonist fails to achieve his goal and finds out that the failure is a good thing.
4. Comic tragedy: the story goal is met but the protagonist finds the outcome to be a bad thing.
Plot development and climax
Thinking about the ending before the climax might seem like putting the cart before the horse but it’s really not. There are two possible scenarios that authors face. In the first scenario, an author knows the ending he wants. Therefore, his job should be to create a climax that prepares readers for the ending. The second scenario involves an author who has a climax in mind. In this case, his goal should be to create an ending that follows the events that unfold at the climax. However, there is a balance that has to be maintained in both cases – the climax should be grand enough to justify an ending, but the ending should not be too predictable when a person reaches the climax.
