Here’s the thing: Endings. Endings are the thing. Endings are Every Thing.
At least when you are writing. Or reading.
Ending is not the cherry on top. Ending is so integral to your plot, you can’t separate them. At least, not if you want to write anything anybody wants to read.
The Ending is what you’ve been selling the whole time you planned, plotted, backstoried, character developed, and wrote your Great American Novel. A good ending won’t save a wretched story. But a bad ending will unfailingly kill a good story. The ending is why the reader just invested their valuable time reading your story, and if it stinks, then they’ve wasted that time. Your ending has to be good, or your story is doomed.
So what do I mean by a Good Ending? Does every story have to end with Happily Ever After?
No. Of course not. Good does not necessarily mean happy. But it should be satisfying. It should resolve the conflict, and tie up the main storyline and any secondary storylines you had. The ending should grow organically out of the plot and the action of the story, not come screaming out of left field at the reader, who can find no other justification for it than the whim of the author.
Want to find out more about Endings? Check out the new article on my website at
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