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As a publisher, editor and creative writing teacher I
frequently notice that though many people write extremely well, their story may
lack shape and more often than not it is the ending that lets it down.
There are four main faults.
Damp squib
Oh, was that it? Nothing has actually happened; there is no
change from how the story started. A useful question here might be: has the
main character changed as a result of this story? Has she grown? Has she moved
on?
I recently asked a “literary” writer what made his novel literary.
He replied that one clue is that the reader can skip to the last page and it
doesn’t spoil the rest of the novel. Does this contradict what I’ve just said?
Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps this type of novel shows us how
rather than what.
Melodrama
The ending can be over dramatic and unbelievable. Could that
really happen? Isn’t this all a bit sudden? It’s best to think of logistics
here and then also to check back into your text that you’ve posted all the
necessary clues.
Deus ex machina
A fabulous contraption flies a god or goddess on to the
stage. S/he waves their magic wand and
all is well. The protagonist hasn’t had to work for their living.
Note that Dickens, Molière and Shakespeare are all guilty of
this. We often see it in pantomimes as well. By strange coincidences long lost
relations show up and solve all of the protagonist’s problems.
You have to put the protagonist through their paces. Note
how the mentors in the best stories usually disappear leaving the protagonist
to work on their own. Think of Cinderella, Harry Potter and Lord of the
Rings.
No ending
This is different from an open ending. Open endings are particularly
common in YA books. This is an area I know well. The protagonist is left with several
possibilities but we don’t know which will happen. The reader may decide. There is usually some hope and some closure.
One of my own novels The House on Schellberg
Street received one review that said it had no proper ending. I’m not entirely
convinced that that is true. The protagonist is left with a question. The reader
knows something she doesn’t know. It’s not a particularly comfortable ending but
at least we have seen her grow. Importantly she has also come home and realised
that her roots remain important.
The overall message seems to be that we must allow our
protagonist to grow. That is what the story-aware reader expects.
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