Book Endings - Standalone vs Series

[Thufir]

I think it's down to the individual story. If your story is a massive epic that has to span three books, then by all means leave the endings open. But if the story really is only one book long then I'd feel cheated if it wasn't concluded properly. Like when dodgy horror movies leave some inkling that the antagonist may still be problem, like a loan alien egg survives the vast, film ending explosion. Then they bring out #2 a year later and don't even bother to use the egg that they had set up. Very annoying.

Personally I like huge epic's. Especially if they come in three's (for some reason). So as a potential punter for your work I don't care if it is 95% tied up, or if it's one big cliff hanger. Just don't jeopardize the story by giving it something it doesn't need. i.e a closed ending when really it's open. Or an open ending when really it's closed. I guess the best method (in a multi-book epic) is both. Tie up some sub plots to get that climatic feeling at the end of one book. But leave the main 'Big Bad' hanging. Probably quite hard to do.
I propose that this technique be called The Computer-Game Level Method from hence forth.

 

[ASparrow]

I didn't plan a series or a sequel, but when I realized it was going to take more than 200,000 words to tell this story (even after removing the chaff) I realized that I needed to split things up. It was painful and challenging to make the front piece into a standalone work, but I think I managed okay. I still haven't figured out how to make the second part stand on its own. I realize I don't have to, but I want it to be readable as a single book.

 

[HareBrain]

A book I've just finished got me thinking about this thread. The book was The Rats and the Ruling Sea by Robert Redick, second in a trilogy. Whilst not exactly a cliffhanger (no one is in immediate deadly peril at the end) the ending does leave lots of threads unresolved, many of them only just opened - and drops one gobsmacking bombshell right on the last page.

This might seem to be a recipe for frustrated readers. However, in my view the ending of this volume is satisfactory because the story has got to where the reader expected it to, and covered what the reader expected it to cover. It was pretty obvious from the word go (and from the cover, and the blurb) that the main plot element of the book would be the crossing of the Ruling Sea, and this was achieved. So reaching this point at the book's end itself gives a satisfying sense of it being a natural break in the trilogy, even though almost nothing has been resolved.

 

[jojajihisc]

Does it have to be decided upon ahead of time? Probably like most people I read both the long series and the stand alone novel, however I think the stand alone novels stick out more in my mind from books I've read in the past because of the author's ability to entertain, convey a message and finalize it in some way in an efficient manner.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

For me, if a story is meant to be standalone-including in my own writings and most of my stories ARE meant to be standalone-then a completely closed, wrapped up ending should be the way to go as to not leave the reader frustrated and have their thoughts and questions answered by the time the last page is viewed.


For series? Semi-open is best, but don't overdo it with drama by leaving a character hanging out of the airplane with his belt hoop caught on the door handle. That seems to just tense readers up a little TOO much and get impatient-or even angry if it's long enough-between waiting periods.
Of course, that would also depend on whether or not one's story/novel can afford to branch out to such an ending. There's many awkward places to end a piece-in the middle of conversation, for one. Middle of a horrific battle/fight/murder scene, for another.

And yet you should not drag a single volume on TOO long, either.....Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series coming to mind with THAT thought, as well as Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn-two different volumes for the final section of the trilogy was just too much.

So with a series it's a question of whether or not extending an exciting scene would drag it on too long or cutting it completely and saving it would make it too short, but if neither of those situations happen. cut off in a peaceful, quiet scene.