How do you write great endings to a short story or novel? At TBRCon, an all-virtual sci-fi/fantasy/horror convention in January, I was on a panel that discussed just that. You can watch it here:

But we only got to talk for an hour, and there’s a lot more to say, so here’s a little more advice:

First of all, what is an ending? You can define it as the point when the major questions of the story have been answered. You can also think of it as the point where the reader finally knows what will happen next: Mystery gets a solution. Action reaches a resolution. Sin earns redemption or damnation. Anguish finds relief. Love enters a relationship. Conflict is settled. Adversaries win or are defeated. Problems yield solutions. Obstacles are overcome.

Short stories differ from novels because a short story generally has only one question to answer. A novel can have several questions, or a central question that keeps changing because each answer leads to new, bigger questions.

I advise knowing the ending before you start writing, at least in broad terms. Remember, you can change your mind if you get a better idea. In my forthcoming novel Usurpation, I knew all along how the novel would end — what the answer to the central question in the novel would be — then I had to figure out how to get there and how to make it as hard as possible to get there. (No spoilers, but the answer is “yes.”)

Some people are pantsers, also called discovery writers, which means they start writing and see where the story goes. I discourage this method simply because it tends to be the most laborious, slowest way to write, and writing is hard enough to begin with. In my experience, the more I know before I start, the easier the first draft is. Besides, if you don’t have a plan, you might grab the first ending you can think of, and it might be weak or unsatisfying.

I also encourage writing all the way to The End without going back and rewriting the first chapter again and again — even if the story changes and now the beginning needs to be rewritten. Of course the story changes. It always does. So the first chapter will need to change, too. But the beginning should connect to the ending, and until you reach The End, you won’t know what the exact right beginning is.

What kind of ending is good? That depends on the kind of story you want to tell, and there’s no formula that guarantees success. Many kinds of endings are satisfying: happy or sad, open or closed, philosophical or explicit, a twist or a freeze-frame, a summation or a flash-forward…

However, problems with endings almost always start somewhere earlier in the story. The conflict might be too small, too easily solved, or lacking tension. The antagonist might not be worthy. The problem, question, or conflict might not get resolved in the story, so the story doesn’t reach its actual end. Or the ending was reached earlier, and the story continued past the end. The ending may be unforeshadowed, rushed, unresolved, formulaic, illogical, abrupt, or unclear.

How do you know if you have a good ending, and if it’s not, then what’s the problem? One way to know is to set the work aside for as long as you can. I’ve heard of writers who wait for a full year. (I’m not that patient. Also, I might have deadlines.) Another way is to get good beta-readers, although they’re hard to find, and if you get some, treat them like royalty. A third way is to dissect your story. If you’re a pantser, now is the time to unleash your inner plotter and outline the story you have: you can see a lot by breaking it into its most skeletal form. If you’re a plotter, try reading it strictly for pleasure and notice what you enjoy and what bothers you.

Remember that writing is a practice discipline, like music or sports. The more you write, the better you get at it. The more you read, the more you’ll learn about writing, too, but be sure to read quality writing so you learn good lessons. Finally, beta-reading other people’s work is an effective way to learn to spot strengths and weaknesses in their writing, which will help you spot the same things in your own writing. Be sure to critique with kind and gentle honesty.

Have I reached a good ending to this blog post? I don’t think so. There’s a lot more to say. For starters, Rebecca Makkai has written a six-part series about endings on her Substack that explores many specific ways to end a story — wonderful, creative possibilities you can use.

If you want to write, I want you to succeed. I hope I helped a little.