Story with Alternative Ending
All good stories eventually come to an end, but they don’t all end the same way. Figuring out the right note to end on can be a daunting challenge, so ease the process by studying six possible ways to end a story.
While every story has to end its own way, there are six general types of ending. Which one you go for will depend, of course, on the story you’re telling, and may be also the genre.
The six types of story endings include:
→ Resolved ending
→ Unresolved ending
→ Expanded ending
→ Unexpected ending
→ Ambiguous ending
→ Tied ending
• Resolved ending - A resolved ending leaves the reader with no lingering questions or loose ends. A resolved ending is part of most classic fairy tales (“And they all lived happily ever after…”). Remember, a resolved ending isn’t necessarily a happy ending. What matters most in a resolved ending is that all of the threads of the novel have been clearly and satisfying resolved.
• Unresolved Ending - Sometimes, the end is not really the end. This is the kind of ending that leaves the reader with more questions than answers. Unresolved endings are popular choices for books in a series, because it leads the reader to the next book. For example, unresolved endings are a common device used in J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter series.)
• Expanded Ending - An expanded ending often takes the form of an epilogue. As the name implies, it expands the world of the story beyond the events of the narrative itself. That usually involves a jump forward in time, and occasionally a change in perspective as well. Like an unexpected ending, an expanded ending may reframe the way the reader has been thinking about the story.
• Unexpected Ending - An unexpected ending is one the reader likely didn’t see coming. The twist ending can be earth-shattering, or clever and subtle. The trick to pulling off a great surprise is that it should seem inevitable in hindsight. For instance, a previously unknown rich uncle appearing from nowhere to give the poor striving protagonist a vast fortune may certainly be a surprise, but it’s not likely to satisfy your readers. Remember, a good twist is one that the writer has left clues for all along.
• Ambiguous Ending - An ambiguous ending is one that’s open to interpretation. While an unresolved ending doesn’t give the reader enough information to say what’s going to happen next, and an ambiguous ending might allow two different readers to come to two completely different conclusions. Of all the endings, the ambiguous one demands the most involvement from the reader, since they are actively invited to think about the significance of events for themselves.
• Tied Ending - A tied ending is on that brings the story full circle- it ends where it begins. This type of ending follows the classic Hero’s Journey, which is common to many myths and folktales from around the world, but it’s also a popular choice for many works of literary fiction trying to capture the cyclical nature of the story.
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