Tie Up the Loose Ends

It drives me crazy when things are left unfinished, including story endings.

An excellent story ending includes many things. It is not simply the plot but also character resolutions and thematic finality. Tying up loose ends leaves me with closure and emotional satisfaction. Looking at several books I’ve read lately, I’ve made a list of things I like about how those books tidied up the end to make it intellectually and emotionally satisfying to me. 

Of course, most writers do well resolving the major plotlines. This is the biggie. Rarely do I not see the initial conflict of the story resolved at the end. This makes readers feel like the story has reached its natural conclusion. Where things start to get bumpy follows the primary plotline resolution.

One of the most rewarding aspects of a story's conclusion is the resolution of the characters' arcs. Witnessing how the main characters have grown or been changed by what they’ve experienced in the story is a profoundly satisfying experience. By having character arcs pay off, it gives me emotional satisfaction and, for me, makes the characters more memorable. And the main ending doesn’t have to end the character’s journey. Scarlett O’Hara walking up the hill at the end of Gone with the Wind is powerful because we know there is still more ahead for her and, we suspect, Rhett.

Sometimes, subplots are forgotten. The subplots must be tied to the main narrative when you reach the end. As you review your work-in-progress and work on your next draft, examine your subplots to see how they support or differ from your main story. Subplots can be resolved independently or tied directly to the central conflict. When I come to an ending, I like it tight, and usually, the main plot gets the spotlight. You'll have a clean ending if you can tie up the subplots before you get there or tie the subplots into the main plot. This comprehensive approach to storytelling leaves me with a sense of satisfaction and a feeling that the story is well-structured.

Stories are about something. It’s always a bonus if the ending reinforces the major central theme and central question. Again, minor themes are best resolved before that climactic ending. The ending must emphasize the story’s theme without knocking the reader on the head. Subtlety works best, but a closure to the meaning works wonderfully. A robust thematic ending finishes the depth and ensures the story resonates as the reader closes the book.

Make a checklist of the characters’ mental states and give the characters (as well as the readers) emotional closure. Ensure you have addressed any unresolved relationships and conflicts (interior, relational, exterior) and wrapped up any emotionally important decisions that characters might have needed to make. I connect emotionally with characters, and I like to see them end with a positive emotional resolution for themselves or, if they can’t find peace and fulfillment, they find a degree of finality in knowing that the ending, although not ideal, was the appropriate ending for the story.

Foreshadowing and payoff are the most excellent tools for holding a manuscript together. When you know where you start and where you will end, you can ensure that foreshadowing is present as the story progresses. Foreshadowings and payoffs don’t have to be noticeable. Best if they are not. But when the reader thinks back or gives the book a second reading, they can mentally see, ah, of course, the story had to end this way. Foreshadowing makes the ending logical, feel earned, and come across as cohesive with the progression of the whole story, whether the ending is happy or sad. At least, with foreshadowing, we know the ending had to be what it was. This sense of coherence and planning in the story leaves me with a feeling of satisfaction and admiration for the writer's skill.

You don’t have to do this, but I always like it when the author leaves me with the feeling that characters will have a life after the last page. I want them to live on. If it is a perfect story, I want a sequel. As you write that ending, think about it, nothing extravagant, maybe even one sentence only, that tells me what the character’s journey will look like after the story closes. I enjoy knowing how the characters will live after the central conflict is resolved and the final words are read.

Endings need to feel like endings. Write them using prose, symbolism, imagery, character satisfaction or dissatisfaction, trials and tribulations, and ultimate battles that tip me off that the ending is coming. They let me know that finality is around the corner. They tell me that the story is complete.

You can wrap up a story too tightly, believe it or not. I read a story that did that. You need to tie up the ending so you have closure, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t leave certain things ambiguous or unresolved if it serves the story’s theme, tone, or general direction the story has taken. Again, looking at Gone with the Wind, we’ve lived with the relationship of Scarlett and Rhett, and the ambiguity works great because their relationship from the start has been ambiguous. I think that’s one of the reasons I remember that last scene so well. Ambiguity can make the ending memorable and thought-provoking, allowing me, as the reader, to speculate on what is to come and whether they will ever truly emotionally and physically get together as I think they really should. The main thing is to ensure the ambiguity is forward-looking and doesn’t come across as an oversight or omission.

Make sure everything in the story has led up to that final moment. Write it so that the resolution feels natural and earned through your character’s decisions and actions rather than predetermining the ending. Whether it builds to that or not, the ending will be that ending, by George. That doesn’t work. An ending needs to arise organically from the story, and sometimes I thought I knew how a story would end when I wrote it, but when I got to the end, the tale determined its different ending. Be open to that. Have your ending end naturally and as it only can.

I like the bookend approach and use it as much as possible. I want to show the before and the after as the opening chapter mirrors the ending chapter regarding theme, characters, plot, central question, and other story elements. Starting and ending with a bookend style lets me see clearly how the story has changed from how it looked in the beginning to how it looks now by having the main characters in the same situation but different or altered. It makes it easy for me to see the characters’ growth.

I’m known for my twist endings. I love them. If they come naturally to you, use them. Add something unexpected but logical (remember subtle foreshadowing) that surprises the reader at how the ending turns out but also leaves them emotionally satisfied because when they think about it, they can see that this is coming all along. A well-crafted twist at the end can make endings so much more memorable and impactful, even if you’re not writing a mystery or another genre where twists at the end are usually expected.

In some ways, endings provide justifications for how the story was told. When tying up the end, ensure all character decisions and actions are explained, and their consequences are shown in those last scenes. Readers need meaning and confirmation that the time they spent with you reading your work was well-invested and that everything in the story was integral to this ending. Readers need to feel that the events they’ve witnessed throughout your story unfolded as they did to bring them to this ultimate and singular end. I don’t think that if a story is told well, more than one ending is possible. Set the story up so this happens. Justify everything you write in the beginning and the middle with the end.

As you review your draft while wrapping up the ending in mind, ensure that there are no inconsistencies or contradictions a reader might have when comparing the ending to the rest of the story. Gaps in logic take the reader out of the story, make them disappointed at the implausibility of how something played out, and leave me a bit frustrated. Ensure everything aligns in the beginning and middle to that all important ending.

Last, the two most important sentences you will write are the first and the last. End with a strong closing line. Within that line should be everything the reader needs: the story’s essence, tone, theme, logical and emotional cores, and conclusions. Make that ending sentence stick with the reader long after the story is put aside. You know you’ve scored when it is a line readers will repeat in their conversations with friends. Nothing is a greater compliment to a writer than to be quoted in readers’ conversations. Make that last line stick.

So that’s pretty much it. Have all the major plotlines been addressed? Do the characters’ arcs and all the relationship arcs end with logical and emotional satisfaction? Has the central conflict and theme been fully addressed? Are the subplots either resolved or intentionally left ambiguous (and we can tell it is intentional)? Does the tone at the end match the rest of the story?

I think a strong ending makes a story. It ties up loose ends. It’s thoughtful. It gives balance. It highlights a writer’s attention to detail. By providing emotional and intellectual closure, I can’t help but remember your story long after I put it down. And that’s my goal. I want to remember your story always.