I'm writing a

Chatterbox: Inkwell

I'm writing a

I'm writing a story and I'm doing  pretty well with the first

part of it, but I'm having trouble thinking of a good ending. I know

that doesn't give you guys much to work with, but do you have any suggestions

for me? Or any basic writing tips or something?

submitted by Megan M, age 13, Ohio
(April 23, 2009 - 5:34 pm)

back to the Inkwell

Well, there are three basic endings, and all other endings sprout off of those three. There is the happy ending, the unhappy ending, and the split ending. In the happy ending, the hero triumphs over evil in some various method. In the unhappy ending, the hero fails, dies, is exiled, or otherwise renounced. These types of endings are rather unsatisfactory, but can be nice, if really well written. The split ending is hard to describe. If you've ever read Artemis Fowl, then that's a good example. The evil triumphs, but has turned a tiny bit good. The righteous are unsatisfied, but accept their defeat. Does that help?

submitted by Annie, age 12
(April 23, 2009 - 7:11 pm)

Budge along to the front row, now, thread!

submitted by Annie, age 12
(April 23, 2009 - 7:13 pm)

Anyway it sometimes helps to just write an ending, not worry about it too much. SmileWinkSmile

submitted by Alessa, age 11
(April 23, 2009 - 7:18 pm)

Sorry, I can't really help, because I'm painfully obsessed with appy endings, even when I'm aware that the ending for some particular story should be sad or vague. I'm not so great with those.

Sorry, but hope the stpry goes well! :)

submitted by Mary W., age 11 and one, NJ
(April 24, 2009 - 2:49 pm)

Thanks for the advice, guys!!! And any other opinions are

welcomed to, I need all the advice I can get.SmileLaughingSmile

Thanks, again!

submitted by Megan M., age 13, Ohio
(April 24, 2009 - 2:14 pm)

As somebody else said, the best thing to do is usually just to forge ahead. I find that when I'm in a similar position, ending or not, I can just let go and let the story write itself. I've gotten some interesting results from that - buildings catching on fire, characters getting shot by accident. I would say just go and let it unfold however it's going to.

 

-Emily

submitted by Emily H. :), age 13, Sparks, NV
(April 24, 2009 - 4:25 pm)

You could try a cliffhanger. That's where you end kind of in the middle of something. Not like in the middle of the sentence more like:

And she was determined to slay Sagga, the bloodthirsty, ruthless, smelly skunk. 

And then it ends. But then you have to write another story. But readers will be hungry for it!   

submitted by Maggie S. ∞ , age 13, St. Paul, MN :D
(April 25, 2009 - 7:55 pm)

A bloodthirsty and ruthless skunk? That's interesting... ;)

submitted by Mary W., age 11 and one, NJ
(April 26, 2009 - 10:58 am)
Well personally I'm a big fan of Jossed endings (less-than-happy endings, that is, usually where someone dies, usually a tear-jerker of some sort, that sort of thing) like, for example, the end of Dr. Horrible, or the end of Burton's Sweeney, both of which made me just bawl for a good five minutes each. I hate happy endings like the ending of Breaking Dawn ("perfect piece of forever". *scoffs*).
The point being, keep in mind as you write that not all or even the majority of readers are going to be happy with a "perfect" ending - see the hur-uge amount of fans who /hated/ Breaking Dawn. Consider killing off or seriously injuring a major or even main character; let the villain win a victory; have the protagonist's best friend sacrifice himself in order to save protagonist (if it's that sort of story, obviously).
If you do go for a happy ending, make sure it's hard to obtain. The protagonists should WORK for their happily ever after, to heck with perfect pieces of forever. Life blows, and then we die. Fiction is an escape from that but there are limits. There is still pain, suffering, agony, despair, anger, war, hate, death, illness and injury, hunger, inner turmoil, prejudice and bigotry, greed, and violence in fiction - if there wasn't, it would be BORING.
Also make sure your ending fits with the story; read over your finished story, and make sure the ending doesn't feel abrupt or tacked-on-at-the-last-minute. For example, Romeo and Juliet has always seemed like a comedy with a sudden tragic ending shoved onto the end. Whereas Dr. Horrible started off very funny and had a tragic, tragic tear-jerker ending, but the tragedy in the last minute and a half was foreshadowed in the first song. In a way Billy foretold his own undoing; his freeze ray did indirectly stop his pain - just not in a way he would ever have expected.
And I'm rambling now, I probably *shouldn't* try to form coherent paragraphs at one o'clock in the morning. G'night, y'all. 
submitted by TNÖ, age 15, Deep Space
(April 26, 2009 - 2:10 am)

AHHHHH!!!!!! I hate the Dr. Horrible ending! It ruined the whole film thingy for me. Bad Horse was funny, though. Oh, well, great minds do not always think alike. *growls* *refrains from railing against the Dr. Horrible ending* *throws a purple climbing goldfish chair at the bamboo sitting on the desk* Wait! Where'd that come from? I'm confused....

 

-EH 

submitted by Emily H. :), age 13, Sparks, NV
(May 4, 2009 - 7:47 pm)

Haha! *sticks out tongue* You got Jossed. :) The man can not write happy endings to save his life.

Seriously, though, did you pick up on all the foreshadowing about what was going to happen? Like, obviously, "there's no happy ending/so they say/not for me anyway"

submitted by TNÖ, age 15, Deep Space
(May 5, 2009 - 8:19 am)

Another tactic to use (which, mind, only works in certain stories) is to bring the ending back to the beginning. What I mean is that you can relate them, or do a prologue that's similar to the ending, etc. I"m not making much sense, am I? Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass is sort of like what I'm talking about. You could also just keep writing and not think that you're writing an ending, just think you're writing part of the story, then stop when you think is good. Lousy suggestions, sorry, it's hard to think straight on Sunday mornings. Good luck!

submitted by Allison P.
(April 26, 2009 - 7:43 am)

Like the original Sondheim Sweeney Todd, where it starts off with the Ballad, and ends with the Ballad! weeee.

submitted by TNÖ, age 15, Deep Space
(April 27, 2009 - 8:16 am)

*is confused*

submitted by Mary W., NJ
(April 29, 2009 - 3:37 pm)

You know, "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd." It opens the play, is sung intermittently throughout, and is sung at the end, after everyone gets their not-so-happily ever after.

submitted by TNÖ, age 15, Deep Space
(April 30, 2009 - 6:18 pm)
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