What makes a Good Ending?
Uhm, hi. I don't like making brand new threads to draw attention, but I think this deserves its own space, not only for me, but I believe this is an interesting topic to discuss.
Like some may know, I love writing. I have 32 ideas for books (no kidding-- I actually have little summaries writen somewhere) and three for videogames (because mechanics and all the fun part is playing not reading), but I never quite finished a story. Anyways, one of the first things that need to be stablished since the begining is the ending of the story... or you may get a Life Is Strange here. Even if the story is great, the ending can ruin everything. If you want to write good stories, you need to know how to write good endings.
So, I'm asking you: In your opinion, what makes a good ending?
And going beyond, what makes a GREAT ending? What are the best and worst endings you have seen? What are the things that make them so awful or so wonderful? If you did not like them, how would you change them? What are the things that cause an ending to make you break down and cry?
Yeah, that, basically.
Comments
I like bad/sad endings (not in terms of quality, but in terms of story), they may not be satisfying but they make you feel empty. A perfect example of this is one of the endings in The Witcher 3 Spoiler coming where Geralt kills himself, you have to be a dick throughout the game to get that though.
Another example would be TWD S1, great ending in my opinion, closes a character's story and sets the stage for a new game.
Bad endings in my book are the cliche happy endings you typically see in movies, everyone lives / the boy gets the girl etc...
This. This is the exact reason why I think the ending where both **** and ***** die is the best in TWD: ANF.
(Idk if I can post spoilers here, but I assume you know who I mean).
Thank your anwser. I totally agree with you here.
Bittersweet endings.
Like a tragic thing/failure/mistake has happened but the (main) characters learn from it or accept it and use it as some kind of an opportunity.
A good ending to a series is to me where there are some finite established things (e.g. Lee's dead, nothing you can change) and some flexible things (e.g. Where is Kenny? --> S1).
A "good" ending would be an ending that would satisfy both readers (or gamers) and the author (creator). Depending on the theme and the story itself, the author must give an ending that would have an impact on the world created. Or you know, finish what they started, so we don't have to ask "And what happens next?" all the time.
I can't think of good examples in books, but I know a game that has an incredible ending. A bittersweet one, I might add. Are you familiar with "The Vanishing of Ethan Carter"? If not, I suggest you watch a full walkthroughs without a comment. The end is heartbreaking, and the last words are really powerful.
I love bittersweet
Something terrible happens making characters learn, adapt and change for better
Makes the characters draw closer and to appreciate small things more
Making the journey memorable and realistic
Where if it's happy or sad is down to perspective
Example
TLOU
My fav ending spoiler
Where Joel saves Ellie dooming human race but they still have each other and live to fight another day
I dislike outright sad endings justs makes me sad and depressed
Happy endings feel bit cliche and cringe but if the story was amazing leading to the ending it's awesome
I totally disagree.
Nowadays, bad/sad endings are overused. Okay, let's take a look at the Japanese anime movie that took the world by storm last year. spoiler incoming It ends with Taki and Mitsuha reunited, but the plot of the '3 years ago' is never fully explained, giving you something to think about.
Now, does that make the ending any inferior? No, it doesn't.
An ending where the MC kills himself is just depressing and it's the worst kind of ending the writer can ever possibly throw. I wouldn't mind if the villain did it (Batman vs Robin). But the MC? Nah.
I specifically chose animated shows because well... They seem to be quite popular on this forum.
to;dr I don't like sad endings, but bittersweet is ok.
It depends a little on the kind of story you're writing. For example, horror is supposed to leave you feeling unnerved, but suspense should have most of the tension resolved, and of course, you have to find out what happened in the end if it's a mystery.
For stories in general, most if not all of the loose ends should be tied up, though I have seen stories that waited until the absolute final sentence for a character to realize that something early on in the story means it has to end in a different way than it was leading up to. As the story writer, it's up to you if the ending is happy or sad, or a mixture for different characters.
Don't end on a cliffhanger unless you know for sure you are writing a sequel. Are you listening, Telltale?
Nice to hear I'm not the only one with a bunch of ideas for stories, hehe!
A good ending is honestly just as subjective as a joke, there will be people who love endings those cliche endings where everyone is happy and sings kumbaya, the villain is caught, the best friend is in a relationship with the main character etc. There will be those who love the less standard endings, where everyone dies (which is kind of a cliche in Horrors), where there's no form of a closure and where the ending just makes the entire story feel more mysterious. Then there are the bittersweet endings that add a mix of both, things like an important character dying but the other protagonists accomplish their goal or they fail their goal but they come out having learned allot about themselves and each other etc.
My personal favorite ending for a story honestly depends on the story itself. Is it a story about an underdog who faces adversities to try and achieve their dream? I'd like a happy ending that inspires me to make my own dreams come true despite the adversities I'll face along the way. If it's a horror story about a group of teenagers who decided that living in the haunted campgrounds was a good idea? I'd like a more so 'bad' ending, where most of them get killed or disappear whilst only partially answering the questions you have about the events of the story, for suspense sake - when I watch something like Horror or read it, I know it's a good one if it has me in a stage of paranoia. Is it a fantasy adventure where a group of people are tasked to save the world by partaking in a war? I'd like something bittersweet, where allot of people end up sacrificing their lives in order to end a massive conflict, I'd like to feel some happiness over the outcome whilst also feeling sad of the losses, something to make me think about afterwards.
In general, I think an ending should wrap up the main plot and sub-plots unless there are sequels/prequels in the works (but only if they actually have something to do with the plot or sub-plots). I should end with each character having changed in some way (unless you're trying to make a completely cliche story or one that is set in a shorter time-frame) and if you're attempting to do something like I am where I'm trying to connect all my books together, then try to add a speck of foreshadowing
My favorite endings would have to be: SPOILERS inbound!!!
My least favorite:
In my opinion a good ending will either leave the reader/player satisfied that all the arcs of the story have come to an appropriate end (whether happy, sad, bittersweet,or some combination) or leaves them wanting to play/read the next entry in the series; a cliff hanger if you will (but, like others have said here, only if you intend to produce the next entry (cough TTG TWAU cough)). A bad ending leave the reader/player/viewer confused as to what even happened. They won't know if the story arcs were wrapped up or left hanging; having no sense that the anything was resolved at all. Or if the writer just gets lazy and kills off ALL the characters.
A favorite ending of mine is the infamously difficult to properly execute Twist ending. Some examples of my favorite (and good in my opinion) Twist endings are The Illusionist, Sixth Sense, The Prestige (the first time at least, after that it's predictable), Shutter Island, and The 9th Gate. The twist ending is difficult because if you hint at it too much during the story it ruins it, not enough and you confuse the audience. But done right, it will make the audience want to re-watch/read/play to see if they can find the clues.
There is no such thing as a good ending. Because people are reading a book in differently, sometimes they dont like the process and also they dont like the end of the road, as well. Common "good" concept may not common always. You can create multiple endings to at least made all of the readers or players satisfied. Otherwise, you cant make everyone happy with only one ending. There will be always people who dont like it.
In that specific ending in Witcher Geralt loses the one thing he has been fighting over for the entire story (Ciri), he hunts down the one who killed her (The last crone) and kills her, after that he sees no reason to live anymore and he lets some ghouls eat him without any resistance, he doesn't simply kill himself and that's why I think it's a good ending in terms of writing.
I dont like bittersweet or even outright bad endings very much, simply because I oftentimes feel like I wasted my time (although I havent, and I know this), because when I play games, more than anything else I get attached to the characters ALOT, which means that even when the ending is good, I feel empty inside, that emptiness turns into a soulsucking void of emptiness if my favorite character on top of that is dead or something.
Unfortunately, I have to disagree with your point of view. I failed to see why Geralt dying in the end is a good ending. It is just sad and depressing. It doesn't conclude the story in a satisfying way, in my opinion.
Also I have to disagree with your opinion on happy endings.
Sure, it is cliche and predictable. But tropes are tools, if they are done right, it will be good no matter how cliche it is. If the main character fought tooth and nails for a happy ending, then they should by all means have earned it by the end.
My favorite ending in any story is from Full Metal Alchemist. Edward's goal is to return his brother's soul back to his original body. By the end of the story, he achieve his mission and lives happily ever after with his family. Sounds simple and boring right? Why do I care so much? It is because Edward and his brother have to go through so much suffering, death, danger and tragedy, that we have come to care for him, his brother and their friends that by the end I want them to win. So when the ending happens, I was happy and satisfied that the main point of the story was achieved and most of the plots point has been solved.
We all got different taste and opinions, so it is fine that you love sad endings. My point is, giving the main character a happy ending is NOT a bad thing as long as it makes sense.
@RavenSnowstorm , I hope you can take note of this as well.
Im gonna preface by saying that I dont really like bad endings most of the time, I like the sort of ride into the sunset endings where everyone is ok (at least the main characters), and a bad/sad ending has to be really special to make me satisfied, I think the only sad ending that ever completely satisfied me was TWD season 1.
Now, something else about endings that often irks me is how shallow they often feel, and I know this is probably because not even 50% of people playing games actually play until the credits, but I often feel so unsatisfied when a 30 hour adventure ends in a 5 minute cutscene, I think Witcher 3 is the best game I have played in terms of ending, since it ends on a climax, and then depending on what ending you get, you get to "play through" the ending, you get to play after the climax, where things are just sort of chill, you meet a few characters, that sort of stuff, and it really helped settle in the fact that the game was over in a satisfying way
Aha! That is true! You would want the mc to win, that is true storytelling. (Although most writers fail miserably thanks to better side characters.)
Cliffhanger endings aren't bad by any means if there is a logical reason for it.
I like a epic boss battle
Story wise its up to the writers some anime has a weird way of ending where ut just trails off and thats alright. Witchers ending has been mentioned and I thought it was good, real life stories dont have endings things never get wrapped up in a neat little package so why should games? The journey is what matters its the experience and what you learn along the way irl we all die at the end of our story and things are very rarely wrapped up and concluded.
waitwaiwait ciri dies wtf
I never heard of that game. Could you tell me about it?
Wow, this commet sure will help me a lot! Thank you!
Could I ask you for advice? My story is about racian and religious "minorities" (actually like 60% of the population, but they're weaker) in a fantasy world (there is magic and dragon riders with assault rifles and such) being discriminated, killed and blamed for everything wrong in the country, and after a war starts, two siblings of like 12 years old of this minorities are war refugees in a foreing country, and I can't get to a satisfying ending... I was thinking about them getting separated forever. Both alive, both in stable conditions, but they never see each other again. This ending doesn't convince me, though, since they never achieve their goal (finding their mother, who works at a militar airport base in maintenance of planes and such) and it feels like everything was for nothing, speacially considering the story takes over four years, and the ending doesn't really have much to do with the plot. Plus, the two children symbolise two different political and religious ideologies, and having them be separated forever doesn't really get to the conclusion I want to get to (PEOPLE DESERVE TO LIVE basically). How could I fix this?
Wow, I'm glad I'm not the only 13 year old aspiring writer here
Thank you for your response. I'll check those endings, see if I can get some ideas.
Wow, this thread did get a lot of attetion!
I think usually what makes a good ending are 2 things: it has to be emotional (not necessarily sad, but emotional), and it has to be memorable, something you know you won't forget easily because it's unique.
Damn I wanna read some of these posts but it's a spoiler minefield! Anyway there's no specific kind of ending that will always be good obviously but I will say this if it is a long running trilogy or show/series I really don't think going for the tragedy ending or what have you works, in Star Wars they beat the empire the rebels won and celebrate and the audience feels good about the trilogy, whereas with something like Mass Effect I think a big problem with the ending other than how convoluted Star Child is is that there is no option for a happy ending it always feels like you lost in the end IMO and that really hurt it more than anything else
Everybody happy, and nobody falling and drowning in a lake leaving you bitter for years, festering an unhealthy obsession with said drowned character, whose arc was never fleshed out as much as you would've liked alongside other things, while forevermore wishing things had been different and fearing it will never be the same as that feeling you got in your gut on something you were so passionate about, you thought you were crazy, but craved and loved it so much you wanted to write that shit out yourself, only to see it get thrown under a bus and its roadkill corpse danced upon and leaving you regretting you had such feelings in the very first place while you weep and eat waffle flavored ice cream wondering if you should've just got into solitaire.
Y-you know, theoretically speaking ;_;
Yes, I know, but WHAT makes an ending memorable and unique? That's the point.
Yeah, I have to agree with you on your ending, it's a bit of a mess (no offense!) but at least you have something to work with and remember that you can write as many drafts as you want but you'll never have a perfect ending, no book/show/film ever has, so you don't have to worry about perfection.
What do you want the ending to make the reader feel? Do you plan on continuing the story with a sequel? Based on the themes of war, discrimination and death in your fantasy world, do you want those to be present in your ending? Such as: The end of the war and it's effect on your two protagonists, the war ongoing and possibly forcing the two to be separated as one of them is forced to join the military or even them being caught in the midst of the battle where one or both of them dies (it would be a very grim but realistic depiction of how so many people die in wars before they can achieve their goals in life). If you want to focus on the racial and religious aspect in your ending rather than the grit of war, you could have one of them being imprisoned or even executed for their religious ideology causing the other one to question their own ideology? Even those they are mostly negative endings, 'people deserve to live' is something you can make your readers feel even if you kill of one or both of the characters and you could also answer the question of why people deserve to live whilst others have to die in order for others to live. In addition you don't have to kill either but instead leave them with permanent scars - it'd be truthful about war whilst still strongly conveying what you're going for.
Also, may I ask what the mother's main role is and what prevents the children from being able to see her? If your plot points make the reader lose hope of them finding their mother and they fail to do just that, then the reader will likely feel unsatisfied and see the ending coming. It really all comes down to what you want to do with the characters and the story, do you ever want them to reunite with their mother or will you end it with their mother being dead as they linger on with false hope etc.?
Edit: In regards to the ending, btw, you should make sure that your two protagonists have developed - especially since it takes place over 4 years and don't forget to describe their growth over the years, the refugees suffering and the grim realities of war to really immerse your readers.
play silent hill 2 recklessly and constantly put james in danger. there's your answer.
It has to address all the major plotlines if you build something up then there has to be some kind of a conclusion. When it comes to games with deep story/dialogue and choices there has to be multiple ending variations (not always necessary say TWD S1 had a great ending) but usually works better, great examples Mass Effect 1 and 2, Witcher 3, Dragonage Origins in those games it usually is good that if the protagonist tries to get the best results he can actually succeed and if he doesn't he dies (Mass Effect 2, Witcher 3 and so on). If there is a fixed ending it has to be very original (great example TWD S1) and its not good if it ends with a cliffhanger unless its a new storyline when the old one is concluded.
I don't think there is one exact way to say this, but it should be something different from the average. For example, From The Gallows was a bad ending in my opinion, and it wasn't memorable because, even with some really nice moments like Javi vs David, it felt very generic, especially if you go with Kate. Fighting a herd of walkers that is overruning a community is something we've seen billions of times in TWD media, it's not interesting and it's not unique. On the other side, No Time Left was unique, we had a doomed, bitten protagonist, that we knew would die sooner or later, looking out for a little girl who was looking for her parents and got kidnapped by a broken but not necessarily evil man. This plus all the emotional scenes made the episode unique, because we knew those were things we could only see there.
Dude, you're Goku, if you liked him that much you could have just used the dragon balls.
You're awsome. Yeah, this comment is definetly the most helpful one here... thank you so much. I will totally take in consideration the ideas you told me. Uh, the mother worked in the maintenance of planes in a previous civil war (Socialist Ideology vs. Capitalist Ideology [the one that won]-- this will also be very present in the story) that left the country in disaster and these minorities were blamed. The mother was practically forced to go, but it's too far from the children's home so yeah, separation.
This really gave me a lot to think. Thank you so much!
Depends on the masseuse
An ending can literally be anything. A good ending makes you believe everything that happened meant something.
No problem! Best of luck with your story!
This is the most important part really.
Grandfather! T.T
A good ending...
Well it all depends on the story. But one thing is certain, leave no loose ends.
Make sure all bases are covered and resolved. Give the characters some small rewards for whatever you the writer, put the challenges for them to face and succeed or fail, they learn something. Simply put, give them resolve. And secure in the knowledge they made a difference.
Everyone whose posted has excellent definitions on the topic at hand. My hat off my fellow forum followers.