It is a well known fact that short stories should go out with a bang. In shorter fiction, where you have a limited set of character and a shorter time span in which the action takes place (unlike novel), every word should bring the readers one step closer to the big finale. Here are some tips and tricks to write a killer ending to your short story.
1. Nice writers finish first
Keep your ending short and sweet. Make sure you don’t over-explain things – don’t underestimate your readers.
2. Finish at the beginning
Circular ending is a good way to round up your story and make the readers feel like the circle is closing and the journey has come to an end. By reintroducing some elements from the beginning of the story, you evoke the sense of completion and leave your readers satisfied.
3. Shock your readers
Another way to end your short story is to say something completely unexpected. Keep telling them about the drunk, unstable woman who wakes up with no memory and blood on her hands, and in the end slap us with an abusive husband who used her weakness to frame her for murder (okay, don’t do that because Paula Hawkins already used this one up in her bestseller, The Girl on the Train, but you get the picture).
4. Zoom out of the story
This is a very visual ending: show the close-up of the setting and then drift away to show the broader picture.
5. Keep it vague
An open ending is possibly the most true-to-life, because in real life, the Earth doesn’t stop turning because a certain event came to an end, or a mystery has been resolved. It also offers the readers to pick the ending they like best.
No matter how you decide to end your story, make sure to achieve the sense of completion, and to show that your protagonist has changed as a result of the events shown in the story.
Hi Sara! Your guest post is out on http://www.ryanlanz.com and already it has a huge positive response. I was wondering if you’re be interested in further guest posts. Please contact me via my contact page to discuss this further. I’d email you, but I don’t have linked in. Thanks!
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Hello!
Thank you very much, I would love to be a guest poster on your blog. I am sorry about the inconvenience, I am fairly new to this and am still figuring out the best ways to let people contact me. Anyway, I have just sent you a message. 🙂
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Hi Sara! Per your earlier permission, I scheduled this article to be featured on http://www.ryanlanz.com on March 24th! As usual, it has your credit/bio/link. Feel free to hop in on the comments afterward.
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That’s great, thanks! 🙂
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