Great Endings Can Make Your Stories Memorable

Quote of the week

“There is no real ending. It's just the place where you stop the story.” Frank Hebert

Great Endings Can Make Your Stories Memorable

We've all experienced it - you're utterly engrossed in a book, movie, or even just a casual anecdote someone is telling. You're hanging on every word, desperate to learn how it all concludes. And then comes the ending, and whether with a gasp or a contented sigh, you think "Of course, I should have seen that coming!"

The best story endings are simultaneously surprising yet seem utterly inevitable in hindsight. They defy our expectations while making total sense. Here are four techniques you can use to craft endings that linger:

Twist or The Rug Pull - Engage your audience with unexpected plot twists or surprising revelations. A good example of this is the novel/movie "Gone Girl" - with its shocking twist at the end, revealing the supposed victim as the true mastermind villain, but also seems inevitable in hindsight based on earlier clues. It upends the audience's perception and leaves them stunned.

Inevitable or The Emotional Payoff - Pile up hints, motifs and circumstances that increasingly narrow the possibilities until there's only one logical, if not entirely expected, conclusion. When skillfully sewn, the inevitability packs massive power. A good example is the novel "The Fault in Our Stars." A poignant and heart-wrenching ending that brings closure to the story of love and loss.

Chekhov’s Gun - Mention or show an object, personality trait, or background detail that seems insignificant...until it becomes the key to the ending's resolution or moral. Readers love feeling they should've picked up on its importance. In the movie Lethal Weapon 2, Mel Gibson appears to be showing off that he can dislocate his shoulder at will (to get out a straight jacket). In the end of the movie when the bad guys tie him up and throw him in water he uses this to escape.

Juxtaposition - is when you place two things side by side as a way of highlighting their differences. This could be ideas, images, characters, or actions. End on an image, phrase or scenario that seems jarringly out of place from the overall tone...until the profound meaning gradually becomes clear. A good example of this is final line of the novel The Great Gatsby, “And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." With its bittersweet ending of the dramatic unraveling of Gatsby's dreams and life, the ending juxtaposes the metaphor of struggling against an inevitable undertow with the mundane image of boats on water.

Taking Your Endings to the Next Level

• Practice writing different endings, experimenting with emotional tones, twists, and resolutions.

• Seek feedback from trusted peers or mentors to refine and enhance the impact of your endings.

• Study the works of great storytellers, analyzing how their endings create a lasting impact.

• Explore cliffhangers or open-ended conclusions that intrigue and leave your audience craving more.

By honing your skills in crafting powerful endings, you'll elevate your storytelling game to new heights.

Video

Writer Brandon McNulty, shares his take on endings for stories (mostly novels, but movies as well) in the video below. What I particularly liked with this video is that it shows real examples and many endings don’t neatly fall into one category but require balance between one or more types. Like most things in life, which ending works for you depends on several things not all of which are in your control.

Let us know what good endings have you encountered in stories you’ve heard or seen. And what in your opinion have been the worst endings?

And if this issue was interesting and useful to you, please share this newsletter with fellow storytellers!