1. **May contain spoilers**
Ways to End a Story
**May contain spoilers**

2. 1. The Come-Full-Circle
Take something that happened at the beginning of your story and connect it to something at the end
The circumstance should be similar, but changed as a result of the events of the story
A good space to have the characters reflect on what they have learned since the beginning of the story
Ex. Frodo returns to the Shire at the end of Lord of the Rings, discovering it is a vastly changed externally as he is internally (In the book, not the movie)

3. 2. The Twist
Throw something in at the end that changes the expected trajectory of the story
Consider what expectations you’ve set up for the reader and subvert them
Ex. In Fight Club, we discover at the very end that Tyler isn’t real and the narrator is schizophrenic and isTyler

4. 3. The Cliff Hanger
Usually used for stories with sequels, a highly dramatic or suspenseful event occurs at the very end
Can vastly change the tone of the story and leaves the reader anxious and eager about what comes next
Ex. Ned Stark, one of the main protagonists, is executed at the end of A Song of Ice and Fire (or Game of Thrones, Season 1), throwing the world of the story into chaos

5. 4. The Happily-Ever-After
Sometimes in the form of an epilogue; the author states what has happened to the characters at some point in time after the main narrative is over
Ex. The end of the Harry Potter series: Harry and friends in the future, married, with kids, etc….ditto Katniss at the end of Mockingjay

6. 5. The Understated
The story doesn’t end with a “bang”; the characters are shown living their life in the aftermath of the story’s major conflict
Similar to coming full circle: characters may reflect on how their life has changed as a result of the story’s events
Ex. Charlotte in I Am Charlotte Simmons attends a basketball game at her university after a very interesting first semester

7. 6. The Ambiguous
Leaves the audience purposefully uncertain of what action a character will take next, or what really happened during the events of the story
At the end of Life of Pi, Pi proposes another, simple story in place of the crazy story he has spent the whole novel recounting; the audience isn’t sure what happened

8. 7. The After-the-Fact
Similar to the Happily-Ever-After except not necessarily happy
Portrays the characters or world of the story some time after the major conflict has been resolved; some things have dramatically changed
Ex. In 1984, Winston, once so eager to fight the government is shown completely defeated some time after he sacrifices the woman he loves to save himself

9. Your group is going to write an ending to this story…
He saw her standing on a street corner in Boston. They hadn’t seen each other in over a decade, not since they were children. He ran forward, terrified that she might cross the street, step into a waiting car, or (worst of all) greet some other man rounding the corner. She heard him running and turned. By the time he reached the corner, her face had sparked with recognition too. A long time ago they played on the beach every summer, but it seemed his only memory of her was of a single day in August when they were twelve. They went looking for sea glass; he couldn’t pull his eyes from the golden sun in her hair.

10. Pick one of the long-form stories you’ve written
Determine which technique you have used to end the story
Pick 2 other types of endings and rewrite the end of the story in that style (you only need to edit the last paragraph or so)
The Come-Full-Circle, The Twist, The After-the-Fact, The Cliffhanger, The Understated, The Ambiguous
After you’re done: Which ending do you like best? Why?