Writing How Do I End a Story?

[Millarca]

Help, I started writing a story and thought it will end in 20 chapters but I just can't stop. Should I do it more carefully?

 

[ArcadiaBlade]

The best way to create a story's ending is to narrow the possible routes to take and slowly build a path to reach the end. The more you expand a story, the more you try to lengthen its ongoingness by creating more and more paths that would lengthen the story.

Basically, its like cornering a rat to a dead end or writing the near conclusion where all paths are block to escape to reach your end of a story.

 

[LilRora]

Another way is to just ignore that. You can finish all the major plot points, but leave all the smaller things for readers to imagine after an open ending.

About doing it carefully... ekhm, jokes aside, I think it's not about doing it carefully, but about finding a point where your story has no major plot points open. All the smaller things can be completed in side stories or just left as they are.

The thing is, in a way you need to leave a lot of things without conclusions. Ending every little plot point in a story seems unnatural, because it just doesn't happen in real life, save for specific rare situations. New things crop up all the time.

If you ask me, you should just end a major plot point, slap a good conclusion of it, not of the whole story, and if you want no one will stop you from writing a second part where the small things are adressed. That worked for me, at least. I initially wanted to end my story in around 30 chapters, but I was really hyped to write it, so I wrote a part 1 ending in chapter 36 where a large plot thingy was finished, and continued writing.

I will obviously need to end it sometime, but that's the concern for future me. If you really want to end your story though, you'll probably end up better if you end it, but don't stop writing it. Creative juices are not something you can afford to waste, and writing for yourself is good.

 

[DarkeReises]

you don't

 

[NotaNuffian]

Carefully.

And don't fuck it up like how the CN does it, ie tie up loose ends with a stupid few words or even a single paragraph like "and they live happily ever after"

 

[NobleTalon]

Help, I started writing a story and thought it will end in 20 chapters but I just can't stop. Should I do it more carefully?

think about it as if it was an RPG.

You can stop playing an RPG once you cleared the main quest, or you can complete the game at 100% and do all the secondary quests. The thing is, no matter how many secondary quests you do, the game won't end before the main quest has been resolved.

It's a rough example, but it's the same for a novel. Only the main plot is important, if you want to end your story then you need to resolve it. As long as your MC didn't fulfill his role, your novel won't be finished.

As said above, narrowing the routes until only one is left, then completing it, is the easiest and fastest way to end your novel. Is it the best one ? Probably not, but at least it won't let a bad aftertaste in your readers' mouths. As long as the main plot has been resolved, your novel can be considered 'completed' even if the secondary plots and side stories are still open.

Just be careful to not let too much stuff open on the side, or else it will give the impression of a rushed ending even tho the main plot has been resolved.

 

[Jailbreak571]

...
End it with a bang and a boom! Art is an explosion!

 

[tounokenja]

NTR is the best ending.

 

[Oreo]

Make it vague.

 

[Temple]

Why not follow the tried and tested way of ending web novels...the author just disappears?

 

[SilvoidVorstellung]

Help, I started writing a story and thought it will end in 20 chapters but I just can't stop. Should I do it more carefully?

You can use this technique where you write the ending of your story and work your way there. It's easier to have a clear goal than vaguely write your way through.

 

[IDKWtWrite-San]

Well, you complete it

 

[JayDirex]

Carefully.

And don't fuck it up like how the CN does it, ie tie up loose ends with a stupid few words or even a single paragraph like "and they live happily ever after"

Stop with the Carefully already. it's tired and played out.

 

[SailusGebel]

Stop with the Carefully already. it's tired and played out.

That's the point.

 

[NotaNuffian]

That's the point.

Stop with the Carefully already. it's tired and played out.

Dammit.

This is the first time I play the "Carefully" card and immediately I got shot.

 

[Jemini]

Help, I started writing a story and thought it will end in 20 chapters but I just can't stop. Should I do it more carefully?

Err... Ok, this may be a strange question considering your complaint here, but what is your ending? As in, what conditions were you planning to have set up as your ending for the story?

On to my reasoning for this question, you really should have known what your ending was going to be before you even started to write this. If you have a short time-frame like 20 chapters, it becomes especially important to do at least this level of outlining.

Whenever I write, I always know what the ending of my story is going to be before I even start writing the first word. I already know exactly how my Key to the Void series is going to end. I also have it divided down into books, each telling a smaller story arc. I know how each and every book is going to end before I start writing it, and I am fairly good at keeping each book to approximately 40 chapters by writing toward that end point at a rate that should get me there at around that time.

That should be your order of outlining.
-Premise first.
-Figure out your ending.
-Figure out about how long you want the story to be in terms of length.
-Write your first chapter.
-Try to write toward your ending by the time you reach the end of your chapter count.

If you're having a hard time ending your story right now, it sounds to me like you might have skipped the important step 2 in this process, and are now struggling because you are trying to tack it on at step 5, which really doesn't work that well.

My recommendation would be to give up on your idea for a 20 chapter run-length, come up with an ending condition now, and resign yourself to writing toward this new ending condition in the space of the next however many chapters you think it will take to get there.

 

[AliceShiki]

Just try thinking of where you want your story to end, then slowly move towards that point.

You don't need to plan out your entire story, but if you don't have at least an idea of what ending you want, then you'll be writing kinda aimlessly and it might be hard to keep any sort of long-term goal for your story.

So like... Just try thinking of how to end it and slowly move the story towards it? That's the best advice I can give.

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

And then a flash of light and a meteorite came down upon their heads.

Fin

 

[BearlyAlive]

Just put a "they lifed sappily even after" at zhe end of a random chapter.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Stop with the Carefully already. it's tired and played out.

Yes, he is tired and played out. He'll be ready to play again after a good nap, though.

Jot down your ideas of the ending and how to get there. Your ideas may change along the way, but keep inching toward that end goal, and you'll eventually get there . . . unless you have a baby.