Sticking The Landing: Ending A Story Effectively

“Endings are also beginnings. We just don’t know it at the time.” A wonderful line from The Five People You Meet In Heaven, an equally wonderful novel by Mitch Albom. He makes a great point, as while an ending’s job is to close out the story, it forms the platform for a new chapter when done right. It is similar to the end of exams and getting your results, which is the ending of a phase in your life in which you’ve spent a long time working hard, studying, and growing as a person; With that conclusion, you then have the growth of character and the life tools to embark on something new.

Good endings in stories are important for that very reason. Those closing moments leave a lasting impression on you as the reader. Whilst you may have enjoyed the journey with all its twists and turns and highs and lows, if it doesn’t stick the landing and ends up with a failing grade, you’ll be left wondering why you invested all that time and effort.

So whether you’re writing a short story, or looking to get your teeth into penning a novel, here are some tips to help you nail that ending, make it effective, keep it unique and above all else—make it memorable for all the right reasons.

Have An Ending In Mind

It’s always good to have a rough idea of how things are going to turn out when you’re first planning your story. That doesn’t mean to have the ending set in stone before you begin, because that’s not how writing works. Over the course of writing your story, you’ll get to know your characters and—as cliché as this sounds—they’ll start to write themselves to an extent. Changes will occur in it but with a resolution of your character’s arc in mind (specifically how they have grown and changed as a result of the story) you can see if your ending actually shows that change. If it doesn’t, the bad news is it needs a rewrite. If it does, make sure it feels earned.

How Do You ‘Earn’ It?

You were probably wondering that, right? ‘Earning’ your ending is about putting your characters through the right kind of obstacles to reach the ending, and having that ending pay off in the right way.

If you have a shy character who hates confrontation, and your story reaches its climax with that character confronting someone, that needs to be earned. That character can’t just miraculously start standing up for themselves, they need to build up to it. Start small: encouraged by friends, having to answer the phone or to go out and be social, and steadily build the stakes (and your character’s confidence) to get to this point. Keep checking your character too. Make sure their actions and dialogue are consistent throughout your story.

Don’t Rush. Take Your Time.

Too many films, books and stories in general seem to have an issue with pacing when it comes to endings. No sooner is the problem solved do the credits roll or you run out of pages to read. Don’t be like those stories, as they can leave your readers feeling short changed. You’ve taken the time to build up to your ending and resolution, be sure to take the time to bask in the fruits of your labour.

Avoid throwing in any new characters towards the end, and give those characters who exist in your story the time and space they need. If in the first draft you’re feeling the need to rush your ending… stop yourself. It’s a good sign: it means that you’re invested in your own story and want to get it down as quickly as possible so you can see how things turn out. But that’s never good for quality. Take yourself away from it and return to it the next day. That anticipation of getting back to it will not only help your quality of writing, but will also do wonders for your consistency and writing stamina too. If you’re rushing because of a deadline and you’ve left things until the night before, however, it’s too late for you.

And don’t worry about word counts, that comes later in the redraft when you tidy things up and trim the fat.

Write It Again. And Again… And Again

Redraft to make it look like you meant it all along. Add some subtle moments to foreshadow what is coming to add substance to your ending. The more savvy readers may cotton on to what you’re setting up, but regardless those who had a clue and those who were clueless will feel equally as satisfied with the ending, as the former get to feel clever at guessing what was coming, while the latter will just enjoy its conclusion.

Friends and Family = Guinea Pigs

Once you’ve got your manuscript finished, redrafted, redrafted again, a third time, edited, spellchecked and edited, you’re ready. Right? Wrong.

Next up, you need to get it out there into the hands of some beta readers. These are people who will read early drafts of stories and give feedback on characters, plot, what works and what doesn’t. And if there are any plot holes too. In your case, family, friends, teachers, or whoever you can get your hands on will do. The feedback they give you will be invaluable as to where your story’s strengths lay and where it needs rewriting or tweaking. It might be the case that you need to cut entire sections—or characters!—and that is okay. That’s just part of writing.

That’s about it for tips, but if you put these to good use, you’ll have a pretty solid story on your hands. And like Albom said, while this article is coming to an end (hopefully in a very satisfying way) it is also the beginning of something too: you writing the perfect ending to that story you’re going to write.