A great ending is one of the keys for your story to leave a mark on whoever reads it and that is why you have to work on it very well. I explain here all the elements, essential keys to take into account and types of endings from which you can choose.
Half the world is these days debating the end of the mythical series "Game of Thrones" (no, I will not do spoilers, calm down)... and it is not the only series whose outcome has caused controversy: many of us remind you of the crash at the end of Lost , and other controversial outcomes such as The Sopranos, How I Met Your Mother, Breaking Bad or even… The Serranos!
Let's not kid ourselves, that's how it is. Partly because it is the last element of your story and it can elevate it to the heavens of literature and make your readers reread it again and again, or it can be a great disappointment and the book or story loses many wholes.
4 ELEMENTS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT TO ACHIEVE A GREAT FINISH.
I am going to start first of all with four elements that are fundamental for an ending to be conceived as "good" in the mind of any reader. If any of these elements fail, from the outset our outcome will limp, so it is good to take them into account.
KEEPING UP THE PACE OF THE STORY
This is one of the main issues that we have to take into account... and that we fail to comply with the most. Why? Simply because we really want to finish and rush the outcome. And our story, which until then has perhaps been a calm tempo, with many small details, suddenly accelerates at the end and everything happens in a haphazard way.
The person who reads your story or novel wants to taste that final bite by bite, with the same detail and relaxation as the rest of your story, and they will not forgive you suddenly denying them that pleasure.
There may be many reasons why you have to finish the story quickly: the deadline for an award or delivery date from the publisher is approaching, or you just feel like finishing that text and starting another... As far as possible, avoid that speed up or keep in mind that the residue that your story will leave will not be the same.
This is one of the failures that have most attributed to the last season and the last episode of Game of Thrones. A single ten-minute scene, for example, to solve the biggest dilemma of the entire series is simply not enough for us, accustomed as we were to palace intrigues, dialogues in which we glimpse the intentions of the different characters and long journeys.
KEEP THE TONE OF THE STORY
The same as the rhythm, if towards the end we change the tone of our story this can alter the perception of the outcome. A comic story needs a comic ending, just as a dramatic story needs an ending with just as much drama.
If your style tends towards the lyrical, that is what your readers will continue to expect to see in the outcome of your story, and if your narrator starts out being very cynical, or you justify very well and progressively an evolution, or a turn in tone in the end it can cause us to be disappointed (what is this?).
An epic story, such as Game of Thrones, cries out for an epic (or tragic) ending. If in the second half of the last episode the sense of humor prevails, that does not help to fill our hearts with the great finale of the epic series par excellence of the 21st century -as much as there have been humorous moments throughout the series.
LET THE CHARACTERS FINISH THEIR ARCS
The person who reads must feel that the entire "journey" of our characters (whether or not they are protagonists) has been of some use. If in the end they are accidentally hit by a bus, however similar it may be to what might happen in "real life", it is something that will leave us feeling that something has been left incomplete.
If the arc of the transformation that we saw evolve does not seem to serve the plot decisively, the feeling that it will leave us is that the story has been useless, and that is one of the issues that, once again, is being blamed. at the end of Game of Thrones regarding some of the characters.
The same happens if the arc does not complete for some reason, it produces the feeling of "we have been cheated".
An example of good work in this sense can be the end of Breaking Bad (Attention, spoilers): From the first chapter we are told that Walter White is going to die. That is the reason for him to undertake his personal journey and his entire transformation… it is what happens in the last second of the story.
MAKE EVERYTHING FIT
The outcome is the moment in which the clues and indications that we have been leaving throughout history must be collected and the open unknowns must be closed.
If they have not been planted well -or have not been planted at all- your reader may feel cheated. This is what clearly happened with the end of Lost: there was no answer to most of the unknowns opened during the plot and dozens of clues were left flying in the air while the false narration was closed - neither were the character arcs completed or served for anything relevant when it comes to resolving the plot. The proof is that the same ending could have occurred at the end of season two... and it would have had the same effect on the viewer.
Giving our reader, little by little, all the pieces of the puzzle so that, in the end, when the last one is discovered, they can contemplate the complete image in all its splendor is one of the most wonderful sensations of the reading experience ( or watching movies or series). It's like an orgasm from reading, to look for a simile; and surely you know how bad it feels to be without him.
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