Unsatisfying endings

[Kann]

If it was done intentionally that way then fine. If not then it really feels like the author had no idea what to do with the story.

[Mari]

@Kann

Oh, interesting point. I do know what you mean, there was an israeli (?) film I watched some years ago about parents going through a divorce & custody battle that ends with the judge asking the daughter who she'd like to live with, and I was perfectly okay with not knowing which she chose, since that wasn't the point of the film.

[J.Lovelace]

Last time I had to deal with this, it was with a game that I greatly enjoyed, but then it suddenly ended and I felt disappointed. A lot of things didn't make sense without a proper explanation and conclusion. I spent a few nights trying to figure out the plot and piece it together XD

Luckily most of the major plot holes were explained in the DLCs. Finally I could have some peace of mind and I truly enjoyed that game as a whole.

So yeah, loose ends make me feel disappointed and somewhat betrayed.

[ble]

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

[TJSchongar]

If it was done intentionally that way then fine. If not then it really feels like the author had no idea what to do with the story.

Couldn't say it better myself. If done intentionally, then that in its own way can be satisfying. There's a sense of life going on, making the characters feel more real, ultimately, even if you don't love what ended up happening to them at this point in their lives.

If it's not intentional...yeah, that's a story I just can't enjoy. It's REALLY hard to unintentionally leave the audience unsatisfied and stumble upon the mechanics that make it work anyway. It's a skill, developing the kind of tone that would allow an audience to understand that the story is not supposed to tie up neatly.

Now, if you're an author and that's the skill you want to develop and you understand you're still learning, then I'll still read and I'll be happy to give feedback. Not everyone who writes those kind of stories start out good But maybe write satisfying endings until you've build up your storytelling muscle first, so you understand what the nature of an ending is and know what elements you can properly subvert - like a painter learning the techniques of the greats before they break into their own style.

[LCT_m_a_d]

I think a big problem is societies obsession with having things finished and done. I personally believe, doing things are an achievement only if they are done well. The way you end a project (with a conclusion or question ) has a lot of magic in itself. Once we start saying "I just want to complete this" I think thats when whe start making bad choices.

I think an effortless ending can really ruine a good story. In some cases I'd say its better to not even end it and put it on an indefinite hiatus.

I think many creators would disagree and I could definitely appreciate why.

[vothnthorvaldson]

I think an effortless ending can really ruine a good story. In some cases I'd say its better to not even end it and put it on an indefinite hiatus.

Same, I sure would prefer an unfinished work with consistent quality than a visibly rushed end.

But I think that very often, we can have an end way before it was initially scheduled, but that is still a good end. Depending on stories, it may be hard to achieve, but it's often possible if well planned.

It's something I keep in mind. I have a long, long comic just started, that will take me around 10 years to complete at the speed I'm drawing today, and right now I don't find that overwhelming.

However, I do already think of what would happen if I was losing my enthusiasm. I already have in mind possible early ends, as well as ways to speed up the plot without rushing it, in case I needed to wrap up the story earlier than expected.

I think at the least, these questions should be asked as soon as the enthusiasm declines (or unrelated issues impede creation), even a bit. I can get that for some people, thinking of it before any issue arises may be difficult.

[Kann]

That reminds me of a book I once read. It was a trippy book about an aggressive teenager getting involved in fights, who had a soft, music-loving side to him and had vivid dreams which came to life. The book ends with him getting trapped in the dream world and when he is told he's here forever, he replies "Not so fast. I am going to fight".

[soyasholm]

Absolutely loath unsatisfying endings. Best example I have is my (former) favourite zombie manga "I am a hero". Such a well written main character and in general had some really good story to it. And then in the last arc they decided to churn it through the garbage disposal and feed the readers the leftover unintelligeable scraps. (Yes I'm bitter )

[Zaboem]

I have some general observations about ending a story well. Feel free to skip below my wall of text as usual.

A good ending can be abrupt and mysterious or extremely detailed and far-reached so long as (here is the important part) it matches the rest of the story which proceeded it.

The Ring is an example of a movie which had an abrupt ending that left the story hanging on purpose and had the heroine make a terrible unethical choice which was almost out of character. It matches the horror, trauma, and uncertainty of the rest of the narrative.

The Lord of the Rings is an example of a story which has a fantastic detailed final act. Everything is resolved, even stuff we didn't care about like who ends up marrying Éowyn the shield mainden. The events project forward to let us know how all the surviving characters are doing days and then many years into the future. The entire elf civilization is written off as the elves migrate away from the main continent. This matches the scale and generational themes of the LotR story.

Stephen King swings between both good and bad extremes in this respect. (A few spoilers follow.) Lousy endings are almost one of his hallmarks. The climax of The Stand was just terrible with a dues ex machina climax that was very out of sink the rest of the story. IT was not much better. The protagonists simply beat the monster to death with their fists for crying out loud. I didn't read the Dark Tower series, but my brother did, and he told me this. In the introduction to the final book, King basically announces that his ending will be a disappointment. He goes on to say that storytelling is about the journey, not the destination. He isn't wrong exactly, but that has got to feel awful to the fans who had been following the books right until the end.

Then the guy turns around and writes Jerald's Game which includes the MOST SATISFYING final act of any story I have ever encountered. After the climax which was already nerve-wracking, the plot skips into the future like LotR and details how the heroine goes on to cope with her trauma, grow emotionally, and use what she learned to help others. Reaching forward doesn't seem to fit if you think that the story takes place entirely in the bedroom, but it actually includes a lot of flashback in which half of the plot unfolds. It also delivers the best plot twist in the entire story. It's just fantastic.

[JackOfArtAndProse]

"Write an ending that you yourself would enjoy."

I would also add that you have to keep the reader's perspective in mind - they do NOT know what happens to the characters in the end, while you, as a writer, do. So you'd have to write an ending that you, should you be the reader of your own novel, would enjoy.

[FenneFox]

Depends on the severity. If the plot threads left unanswered feel small enough to me, then I can generally brush it off. Also, if I found the journey to be compelling, while I may hate the ending, I may not hate the work (just rank it lower I guess). However, if it is a story I find to be pretty mediocre and it has a unsatisfying end, then it annoys me, as the least they can do is resolve everything.

[Maps]

I read one similar, the plot started out great, it was also a little confusing the whole time (but I think it was probably the content lost in translation to English making it read weird for me as an English speaker). So I wasn’t bothered by that since I was catching he gist, but it seemed like it ended so abruptly and I had SO many questions still. The couple got together but the main plot felt so rushed at the end.
I guess I felt bummed but I was also appreciative of what the author did give me. I try to give authors the benefit of the doubt for at least trying and for entertaining me as long as they did.

[irohakowalski]

I THINK I know which one you are talking about because it sounds really similar to one I read on Webtoon that I had similar feelings about and it's the same number of chapters. Could be wrong, maybe they just ended similarly.
I am in no way a great writer so honestly, I understand the struggle ESPECIALLY when it comes to writing a satisfying ending. Anyway- if we are talking about the same one I know what you mean. There was a pretty intriguing plot and the couple was fun to watch but it kind of lost its way and seemed to want to quickly wrap it up. It left some loose ends that seemed like they might be kind of important to discuss a bit more and even when the couple finally got together it was rather....flat? I had expected a more emotional experience for the characters so while I was glad they ended up together the guy seemed kind of out of character because I expected a much more emotional response from him. I think the creators wanted to move on and felt there wasn't anything more to get out of the comic. I also think it was also their first comic and usually people grow and get better over time so while it wasn't completely wrapped up I figure it's fair to cut them some slack (especially since making a comic takes a ton of work).

[spicy_sweets]

You happen to remember the title of this book?

[Kann]

"Wściekły" by Katarzyna Kebernik. The title means something like "mad" or "furious".

It's by a relatively young Polish author and I have no idea if a translation exists...

[spicy_sweets]

Damn
was looking forward to buying it

[Akhdas]

If a series is bad the ending will always be bad, People just seem to be tolerant with something that is bad and surprised when the ending is bad, it's hilarious

[irohakowalski]

This can be true- I see plenty of people stick around for stories and shows that are whatever but stick around in hopes that it will get better because it shows a couple sprinkles of a of good story. I'm guilty of this too with a few things. It seems to be pretty common now especially with popular shows and comics.

[spadesart]

i was so mad at how ghosted ended/completely dropped the plot halfway through to focus on love triangles and their agency not being taken seriously that i wrote sundown (my novel) to fill the void it left

the finale was honestly, literally the most jarring tv episode ive ever watched. about halfway through, the story changed from monster of the week to more character/romance driven episodes. the head of operations was fired and replaced with an incompetent unlikable guy character and it concluded with everyone in the supernatural agency being fired. then the finale, the very next episode, completely erases literally everything from said arc and goes back to the monster of the week plot with no explanation. old boss is back, everyone has their jobs, zero mention of how any of it happened. and it was a good episode? it was like a taste of what we couldve gotten while the writers were busy writing their garbage love triangle jealousy arc. and then it got canceled so theres never gonna be followup.