Give your story a strong ending. There’s nothing a reader dislikes more than that endless tag at the end that reads: “To Be Continued…” Teaching creative writing to young people always earns you a chuckle or two. Not that I’d laugh at the student writer, but certainly secretly later on. Young people love to write stories; they have such vivid imaginations. They want their stories to go on endlessly and they take no precautions on how to end an enticing plot. They actually think it’s an original and acceptable idea to end their story with “To Be Continued…” And, yes, they insist on the three dots, though I’ve also seen student-written stories with endless dots. In reality, readers don’t appreciate cliffhangers. They want the story to have a good, solid ending. Even if there are plans for a sequel, each story must come to a justifiable conclusion, not a “To Be Continued…”

I told my students, as I often remind myself, that there are three main parts to a story. Beginning, middle, and end, but it’s more than just that. A story must have an Exposition, the setting up of the situation and introduction of the main characters, the Climax, the high point in the story where the outcome starts to become clear, and, finally, the Resolution, the tying up of the loose ends with the final outcome. There are other parts of the story, too, like the episodes that build the tension toward the Climax and the events that start to resolve the conflict. At no point in this process is there a place for “To Be Continued…” However, once again, my young writers were always finding a way to insert those three words, and countless dots, at the end of a chapter, or even in the middle of a chapter. These three words became, for many students, fillers, a means to build tension without saying anything. It didn’t work and I told them that.

I have read many books that are a part of a series. The best books always stand alone, even if there’s the assumption of more to come, a “To Be Continued…” without blatantly stating it. If a book in a series is well written, with the three main elements well constructed, then any reader can pick up any book in the series and not be lost just because they didn’t read the books before the one they chose to read. If the book is really good, potential readers will pick up the earlier books in the series. If the book doesn’t stand alone, if the reader is left clueless as to what’s happened before or even what’s currently happening, then chances are the reader won’t be looking for any of the other books in the series.

My “Four Seasons” series began with one book, “Spring” (Publish America: 2007). No sooner were readers picking it up, than there were demands for another book, one to continue the story. So, I wrote “Summer” (Baico: 2007), followed by “Autumn” (Baico: 2009) and, finally, “Winter (Baico: 2012). There are more books in the series, currently looking for a publisher. Each one stands alone, with its strict Exposition, Climax, and Resolution. Each one continues some of the stories from the previous books. None of the stories include “To Be Continued…”

The bottom line is, don’t be a “To Be Continued…” fiend. Construct your story to bring it to a timely and acceptable conclusion, a resolution that will satisfy the reader. Even if they crave more, the stories can continue. As did mine.