Do You Have a Bad Book Ending?
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You've done it—you've finally landed on the last page of your manuscript, you've written that final sentence, and you have typed that final period. You are done with your book. But now you're suddenly hit with a wave of anxiety—is this a bad book ending? Does the meaning I’ve been working hard to convey actually get across to the reader?
In this article, I’m going to walk through a framework to help you determine the effectiveness of your ending by offering a series of questions to ask yourself about your ending. They're going to put you in the reader's shoes to help you understand their experience of the ending, helping you determine if it is what you were going for or not. If you answer no to any of the questions, then you should consider rethinking your book’s ending.
Has the Main Plot Conflict Been Resolved?
The first question to ask to determine if you have a bad book ending is: has the main plot conflict been resolved?
This is the most important consideration to keep in mind when you are trying to determine if your ending is effective or not. After all, you hooked the reader into the story with an intriguing point of conflict or tension. If they’ve made it to the end, it means they were eager to see how it played out.
Now that the reader has made it to the ending, they are going to be craving some kind of resolution. Remember, having a resolution does not mean that your story has to have a happy ending. There are plenty of instances where a sad or even tragic ending also provides a sense of closure and resolution.
For example, the ending of the film Titanic has a resolved ending that is not a happy one. The final shot is of a now elderly Rose, and we realize she has lived a very full life even though Jack, her lover on the ship, has died. So while it’s bittersweet, the ending still resolves the main conflict of what happened to the Heart of the Ocean, what caused the ship to sink, and what happened to both Rose and Jack.
In some cases, it is possible to have an ambiguous ending that still feels resolved. In this case, it's important the reader at least understands what the different possible outcomes are for the characters. The reader might now know for sure whether the characters went down X or Y path, but they at least have some idea of how things panned out for them.
Are All the Loose Ends Tied Up?
A bad book ending will leave the reader with more questions than answers. Remember the character that you introduced way back in Chapter 4 but then they never reappeared in the story? What about the subplot you dropped off around the climax? All these loose ends should have some sense of closure by the end of the story. Make sure that your reader doesn't have any lingering questions about what happened, because they will be distracting at the end of your book.
Keep in mind that these loose ends don’t necessarily need to be tied up right at the final scene or the final pages of your manuscript. They can be resolved at any point in the story; just make sure that by the ending you have addressed all of those plot threads that were introduced earlier.
In the process of revisiting these loose ends, you might realize that maybe a certain subplot or secondary character isn't actually necessary at all, and the earlier scene that introduced these points might actually be better served if it was cut from the manuscript.
Has the Protagonist Undergone a Transformation?
The next way to determine if you have a bad book ending is to ask yourself: has the protagonist undergone some kind of transformation? Think about where your protagonist or protagonists were at the start of the story. What was their age; where were they physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually; what was their state of life; and what were their dreams and aspirations? Then, at the end of the book, ask yourself: where are they and what has changed in their life, for better or potentially for worse?
In some cases, it is possible that your character actually has ended up right where they began, and that can be completely okay for an ending. However, there should still have been some kind of journey that has brought them back to that place–otherwise, it will feel like there was no point to the story at all. What I'm speaking about here is ensuring that your ending completes your character's arc from point A to point B, illustrating that transformation by giving us an image of what that point B looks like.
Think about the final shots of Titanic. We see the image of the elderly Rose passing away in her sleep and entering the afterlife, where she is reunited with all of the passengers and Jack. This is a great way of completing her character journey.
Is the Final Sentiment Appropriate?
Take a look at your final paragraph and your final sentence, specifically. What is the tone? What feeling or emotion is that final sentence meant to evoke in the reader? It could be melancholy, optimism, or distress even.
Now that you've determined what that feeling is, try to decipher if that feeling is appropriate for the genre and for your specific story. Is this sentiment in line with the overarching message and takeaway you’re going for? For instance, an ending with a distressed sentiment might work well for the thriller genre, where you want to keep the reader on edge. They will walk away with a feeling that maybe the threat they saw in the story is going to return. However, a distressed sentiment is likely not going to be as appropriate for a romantic comedy. It's not going to be what the reader expects or provide them a sense of resolution—they might just be turned off entirely. In Titanic, the ending scene of Rose reuniting with Jack in the afterlife is appropriate for a romantic drama, since it evokes feelings of tenderness and joy.
Ultimately, after the reader finishes the final sentence and puts the book down, you want to make sure they feel something—and then, that it is the right sentiment. Otherwise, it's likely they’ll feel the book was unsatisfying or that the ending let them down, ruining a story they otherwise enjoyed.
Did I Avoid Cliches?
I'm guessing you probably didn't end your book with a literal “And they lived happily ever after,” because that's a very well-known cliche. However, there are a few other cliche endings that you might want to reconsider.
Having a proposal or a marriage in the final scene, especially in a romance book, can feel a bit cliche. While it can also read as fulfilling and fitting for the characters of your story, keep in mind that it is not always necessary for lovers to get engaged or married to provide a sense of resolution for the reader.
In the thriller genre, resurrecting the villain can read as cliche. This is where the reader sees that they have now re-emerged from the dead and are again on the prowl to terrorize the characters.
A pregnancy announcement or a birth is another common ending trope, so just make sure the plot actually warrants and asks for that development at the end.
Try to avoid falling into these tropes or cliches just because you feel like you need something eventful happening at the ending. Oftentimes, a more subtle ending is just as, if not more, effective. Also remember that if the ending feels overdone or predictable, you might end up with the reader rolling their eyes—which is definitely not the reaction you're going for.
Of course, cliches are never entirely off limits. We see movies utilize them all the time. But, for the case of your novel’s ending, try to avoid leaning on a cliche too much and, if you are using a more common ending, make sure you are making it as specific and unique to your story as possible. That way it will feel fresh and creative, rather than tired and overused.
I hope this article helped you determine if you have a bad book ending or if your ending is effective and appropriate. Remember, it can be immensely helpful to work with a beta reader, critique partner, or even a professional editor to get an external set of eyes on your manuscript draft. You can ask them upfront how the ending made them feel and if it provided a nice, rounded conclusion or not.
Thank you so much for reading and happy writing!