Ask the editor 14: ... And endings

Magazine

... And endings

‘Always leave them wanting more'; that little show-business adage has a lot to answer for. It colours our expectations, as an audience, of how a movie or a comedy act should finish; and it influences our expectations, as readers and writers, of books. I think the adage is true for precisely half of the books you read or write; for the other half it indicates a failure on the author's part. In this article I'll look at the art of ending a novel and why it matters.

I did my usual browse of advice websites before I started writing. There are, apparently, lots of different ways to end a story; but what struck me quite quickly was that they all fall fairly comfortably into two categories: open or closed. Which option you choose depends, ultimately, on an obvious but not always easy question: is the story finished or are you planning to write another book using the same characters or setting?

A closed ending is a resolved ending. You have tied up all the loose ends; you have, most importantly, answered the central question or problem of the book (who killed Boris? Will Jenny escape her cruel tormentor? Is humanity doomed?). Your main character has developed and is now a different person; the lovers have finally managed to get together. What links all these endings is that they belong to what classical literary theory calls comedy; that is, a story that resolves positively. Your story has what you might term a happy ending.

An open ending, in contrast, leaves the reader with questions. It tends to look outwards and forwards rather than inwards and backwards. It offers hints of further action, of further risks and dangers, and it poses the threat of the apparent resolution (the good guys won) unravelling while the reader isn't looking. In sum, it isn't actually an ending at all; it's a bridge to a future book, or a clue that the action you have described is still going on.

Whether you opt for an open or closed ending, you need to make it work. A good ending keeps a book in the reader's memory; it encapsulates the experience of the book as a whole and often completes the central metaphor of the story. In some respects it is more important than the beginning; it's the answer to the riddle, the punchline to the cosmic joke, the evidence that proves the theory.

It is also, often enough, an echo of the beginning. A line, an image, or an action taken from the beginning can provide a valuable addition to the ending; it gives a real sense of completion. Think of the ending to A Tale of Two Cities; it echoes, in its language and style, the famous opening.

It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done. It is a far, far better place I go, than I have ever been.

You don't need to offer such a comprehensive mirror image (though it might be fun trying); but consider using common elements for your beginning and ending, subtly but clearly, to frame the story and close the circle of tales. It may be as simple as the image of a bird in flight, resolving to the image of a bird coming home to roost; what matters here is that the reader hears the echo and feels sated because of it.

In a closed ending, resolution is all-important. You should leave as few loose ends as possible and, in particular, make sure you have resolved the main problem of the plot. You should show that the main character (if your book is character driven) has developed and grown. You should return the setting to a kind of equilibrium that allows life to continue without the drama.

If you have a lot of loose ends to tie up you may find it useful to add an epilogue. Here you can catch up with characters that disappeared early and explain what happened when the smoke cleared. Bear in mind, though, that the epilogue is not the ending, it's an afterword; your efforts at literary resolution should focus on the end of the book proper. In fact, I've read a couple of books where the epilogue is in a slightly different style to the main book and it worked pretty well.

In an open ending, you should avoid offering spoilers for volume two. You are aiming to show the reader that things are not over but not what happens next. A good open ending carries a hint of sabotage; it undermines the apparent success of the positive characters and gives the villains a shout, or it inserts a sinister element into the serene final setting. It is often ambiguous and occasionally ironic; it is never a breathless exposition of future events.

It is a good idea to have the ending in mind when you start writing. Firstly because it allows you to think about the frame of the story as a whole and secondly because you can immediately look at lines or images that could profitably sit in both sections. You may find that writing both the beginning and ending after the rest of the story is finished works for you; then you have the luxury of looking over a complete structure before you decide how to introduce it and how to end it.

Finally, by way of an ending, here is my favourite last line of a novel. It's from As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner's masterpiece, and it pretty much flouts every piece of advice I've offered here:

God's will be done. Now I can get them new teeth.

You can see our wide range of editorial services here

If you have any queries or suggestions for our new series, Ask the Editor, please email us.

When he isn't editing, Noel Rooney writes a regular column for Fortean Times magazine, and wilfully obscure poetry. He lives in South London with his family and rather too many animals.

Ask the Editor 1: What genre is my book?

Ask the Editor 2: the submission letter

Ask the Editor 3: Writing a synopsis

Ask the Editor 4: Why do I need you?

Ask the Editor 5: Non-fiction submissions

Ask the Editor 6: Writing non-fiction

Ask the Editor 7: Researching for a book

Ask the Editor 8: How I assess a manuscript

Ask the Editor 9: Why do I need a report?

Ask the Editor 10: Writing your blurb or cover copy

Ask the Editor 11: English Language Editing

Ask the Editor 12: The limitations of editing software