Best Amount of Resolution for End of Book

[Molly Fennig]

I've heard a lot of talk about the best way to end a book (happy ending vs surprise ending vs everybody dies ending) but not about how much resolution is preferable at the end of a book.

To me, there seem to be two main types of lengths- the kind that ends just after the climax, leaving most of the ending up to the reader's imagination and the kind that describes the character's fates fairly in depth (maybe overly so).

Although I'm sure its best to be somewhere in the middle, if you had to choose, would you prefer to have the ending completely spelled out or more up to your imagination?

 

[Brian G Turner]

Hi Molly Fennig, and welcome to the chrons forums.

In part the ending may depend on the genre you're writing for. Generally in sf/f, it's common for a major question to be answered at the beginning, which is answered/resolved at the end. Sub-plots may also be created and then completed. But if there's room for a series, then additional major questions raised - to be answered in the sequels.

 

[hopewrites]

Tie up the main threads, leave a few hanging (more if you'd like to revisit the world with later stories; sequel or no.) for readers to fiddle with. Some readers will want all tied off neat and square. Others want enough threads left hanging for them to fan-fic off into their own bliss.

I'm middle. I don't mind a neat square tie off, but it doesn't invite me back, and if I didn't get attached to the world, I wouldn't pick up a second from a neatly tied off author, assuming their publishers pushed them into making more money off a good, but finished, thing.

With a few threads hanging I'm invited to stay and muse about the remaining characters (even the ones who've been happily ever aftered off the page) and would pick up subsequent stories out of curiosity as much as attachment.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I got pretty hammered in reviews for Inish Carraig for being a bit abrupt (but it was mostly a good thing - that people wanted more) and am now working at making my endings a little more satisfying for the reader without going down the panning it out forever route.

 

[Phyrebrat]

I prefer to read - and write - stories that encourage the reader to interpret the facts into their own ending. I'm trying to think of a story I've written that has a definite resolution where I'm the one who has said 'this is this, that is that' but I can't.

Prescriptive writing bores me but I detest open endings whether that be for sequel set up or lazy writing.

If someone was to ask me if (for example) there was a monster or if the POV was insane/imagining/schizophrenic or whatever, I'd always go for 'yep, it was a monster/ghost/demon' but it's for the reader to decide their own interpretation and the author to set that up.

pH

 

[Ray McCarthy]

It depends on the story, but it's bad I think, to tie up EVERY detail of the story.

 

[Ragandar]

I personally enjoy it when, ultimately, most things are tied up nicely. Not necessarily at the end of a book, but definitely at the end of a series.

That being said, the current plans for my novel include an ending that is blown wide-open just before the end. So much so that it is probably going to be frustrating to the reader, but it feels like it's right. I'll have to see about that when the time comes.

 

[MemoryTale]

It depends on what you wish to do with the story. If it's a standalone book and you want your readers to know that two side characters got together at the end, resolve it. If you either intend to close their story in a second book or simply leave your readers guessing, don't resolve it.

I think the best rule of thumb is to resolve everything you feel needs to be resolved. If it's not especially important whether side character #42 ever got his hands on the jewel he was after, don't bother. But if that jewel ends up being important in a later story you want to tell, feel free to show him getting it. But if you left it unresolved you can always come back to it in a later story.

 

[tinkerdan]

I used to really enjoy the stories that had near cliffhangers at the end (ala ERB).

And I particularly enjoy the ones that make you think at the end without spelling out the whole thing (This is particularly when it ties in with a character that I can't get enough of; and I can always pretend there will be another story somewhere down the road).

 

[zmunkz]

I think you might be looking at the wrong metric for a satisfying ending. Deciding how explicit or not to be in your ending totally depends on what you are going for stylistically (as others have said), but I do not think the decision of style will have much impact on how satisfying the ending feels to readers.

To address that, I think you need to look at what promises you are making to your readers over the course of the opening few chapters... what expectations are you setting up... what implied or explicit questions are you posing. Then, for an optimally satisfying ending, you will want to make sure you've addressed every one of those promises, one way or the other. If you do that, I suspect your readers will be happy regardless of how explicit or left-to-the-imagination you made it, because matching those answers to the initial questions is the actual mechanism of a solid ending... the rest is the style and voice/dressing that makes the mechanism uniquely you.

 

[Juliana]

Personally (as a reader), if it's a standalone I like all the plot threads tied up, but emotional threads can be loosely laid out and then left to the imagination. As in, if there's a love story I like a hint that it ends one way or another, but I don't need (or want) to be at the wedding.

If it's in a trilogy/series, then I like the immediate plot lines from that particular book solved, with larger story arcs left open in a 'we won the battle but not the war' sense. But there has to be some resolution to the immediate things the characters have been dealing with or I feel cheated. Cliffhanger endings are an accepted risk but drive me nuts!!!

 

[Vaz]

If it's in a trilogy/series, then I like the immediate plot lines from that particular book solved, with larger story arcs left open in a 'we won the battle but not the war' sense. But there has to be some resolution to the immediate things the characters have been dealing with or I feel cheated. Cliffhanger endings are an accepted risk but drive me nuts!!!

This.

Especially in a Fantasy series, which seem to be left open. Nothing annoys me more. Grrrrrr.

 

[Gonk the Insane]

480 DPI is the perfect resolution.

Sorry, couldn't resist. I'll get my coat...

 

[The Big Peat]

While the answer to this is you're definitely looking to do it just right between those two extremes, I would rather have too much, both as a writer and a reader, than too little.

For me, the action isn't the juice, its the characters' reactions. If the author has just taken my favourite characters to the brink of the abyss and brought them back, if I don't get to hear how they felt about that, then I've probably just rated it somewhere between 'meh' and 'meeeeehhh'. Bad endings define books for me. Its not that an author can't tell me how they felt about it all in a page, or give me enough clues to imagine it myself, its just that takes some serious damn chops - and it also takes a lot of groundwork on establishing how the characters react before hand, so that when the climax comes, the author can use the shorthand they established before hand to trigger the emotional response without needing to go into depth.

Even then, I just prefer people to show me the mess getting cleared up. Give me that chapter of emotional responses and ends getting tied. I don't just think its easier to do, I also think its more fun to read. Which may inform my stance. I'll even read multi-chapter triumphal processions if I like the characters - hey, why not? Its not often you get to see the peeps you're rooting for actually fully happy and successful.

But a chapter (two at the outside) is the right amount for me most of the time.

Someone who I think does these sort of things very well is Jim Butcher. They're often pretty bittersweet, which I think works very well as a outro chapter flavour. He'll answer a few of the big questions left unanswered from the beginning, he'll remind us of a few of the unanswered questions that arose during the book - I think every book needs a few unanswered questions at the end, even with stand alones - but the big thing he does is he really brings us into the characters' emotional world. There's some pretty heavy duty sledgehammers to the nads in his books and he milks it really well. It gives a real sense of closure to proceedings, and if readers have really brought into a book, that's what they're looking for - closure.

Good endings finish telling you what happened and tease you with what may have been (what was in that briefcase in Reservoir Dogs?)

Great endings leave you as emotional as 6AM on your best friend's stag do.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Hey, Molly. That's a good question.

It can be quite tricky to answer, and I think it also depends on whether it's a stand-alone book or trilogy. I sudden stop after three entries (or more in a lengthier series) could be frustrating for someone who's been reading it for a few years or even a decade.

I think sometimes there isn't a right answer. I like Joe Abercrombie's stuff, but the ending to The Heroes felt a bit long in resolution terms. And yet, if it had been shorter (due to the nature of the book) it probably would've felt too short.

Going back to series: I think a more abrupt ending can be forgiven or enjoyed more easily when there's another part coming.

 

[Cory Swanson]

I get annoyed at endings that are too perfect. It just doesn't seem realistic that everyone would be happy at once. The world doesn't work like that.

But I guess hating happy endings makes me wierd.

 

[Steven Sorrels]

I get annoyed at endings that are too perfect. It just doesn't seem realistic that everyone would be happy at once. The world doesn't work like that.

But I guess hating happy endings makes me wierd.

I'm with you, Cory. It's fine to have some people be happy at the end, but giving everyone a fairytale ending feels forced, and more importantly, unrealistic. I'd much rather have a character I like get an ambiguous or outright unfortunate ending than have it cheapened by ending it with, "And everything was kittens and rainbows, forever and ever."

 

[Stephen Palmer]

I've also received the hammer treatment for an abrupt/enigmatic/mysterious ending, and although that is one thing I've become known for over the years, it doesn't always work, and I haven't always done it right. The crucial point is leaving stuff to your readers' imaginations. That is essential, I think.

As for fairytale vs unfortunate, your characters will tell you what proportions to choose...

 

[j.grey]

My latest one has a kind of experimental ending where the reader should get it but might not. It's not laid out on a plate for them, they have to have followed the plot. It depends how they've perceived the characters as to whether they'll see it one way or another. I don't want to give away the ending but it's weird. It should be, it's all set in the imagination of a sentient brick holding open a toilet door somewhere in Turkey.

 

[Toby Frost]

I think this depends almost totally on the individual book. I've no strong preference any way so long as it works in that particular story.