Endings Are About Trust
Posted by annastan on May 24th, 2010. Filed under: A Closer Look, Craft, TV and Movies.So did you watch “Lost” last night? I’m still processing it, but it did make me want to talk about endings. While I was watching the incredibly long finale, I thought back to what Marla Frazee said at the SCBWI conference: “Endings should disarm us. They should be satisfying and mysterious at the same time.”
I like the idea of an ending requiring a little work on our parts; we have to put some of the pieces together to get a fuller sense of closure, and it’s up to us to imagine what might happen after the story is over. But what isn’t satisfying (I’m looking at you, “Lost”) is leaving the audience confused, and creating connections that don’t seem to make sense.
We want to trust that writers know what they’re doing and are leading us down a path that will ultimately make sense to us. But when we get to the end of that path and we’re left scratching our heads, it shakes our trust in the writer – we thought he was leading us down the path for a concrete reason.
Something I noticed in the finale was how much heightened emotion there was. Some of it felt genuine, but some felt almost manipulative. While emotional truth is at the core of any story, no amount of emotion will mask a story that doesn’t quite hold together. That’s why there must be a balance; emotional truth is vital, but so is logic and consistency.
So this is what we can learn from “Lost” and its ending: Trust your audience to make connections on its own, but don’t make those connections so vague or nonsensical that your audience will lose its trust in you. Ultimately, an ending should feel effortless, as if it was always meant to happen that way. As many craft books will tell you, an ending should be both surprising and inevitable at the same time.
May 24th, 2010 at 9:21 am
*Hands over ears!*
“Na, na, nuh, nonna…”
May 24th, 2010 at 9:22 am
And yes, that was very out of tune.
May 24th, 2010 at 10:40 am
so upsetting… yes, losing trust. very good point.
May 24th, 2010 at 10:41 am
I didn’t watch Lost, but I agree. Endings that leave me scratching my head cause me to lose enough trust in the author that I might not pick up his or her next book. I like it all to tie together in a natural, yet unpredictable way.
May 24th, 2010 at 10:43 am
I loved the ending. Seeing the characters’ redemtion through helping/needing/forgiving one another was enough for me.
I still have a lot of questions, but I’ll take what was offered.
May 24th, 2010 at 10:51 am
Haha, Jon I tried to keep this post from being too spoilery. But I don’t blame you for covering your ears.
Terry, I think much of the series was satisfying, so hopefully we can forget about the ending and just focus on the positive.
Michelle, endings can be SO hard to write, but that’s why good ones are such a treat!
Caroline, I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the finale. There were definitely things I liked about it, but those questions you mentioned were just a little too loud in my brain as I was watching.
May 24th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Love it! I could never get into Lost, but another series that kind of did that in the end was Xfiles, of which I was a big fan. I think Chris Carter wrote himself into a hole. I guess that also speaks to making sure we have a plan going in!
May 24th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
I think there’s probably lots to learn about how not to write in the Lost saga. I found the ending OK, but wimpy and unsatisfying. There were so many loose ends left dangling.
This happened partly because a TV series is not a novel, and the writers couldn’t go back and cut all the storylines like Mr. Ekko and Walt that didn’t lead anywhere. Killing our darlings might be tough, but we need to do it if we don’t want our readers to feel as betrayed as so many Lost watchers are feeling now.
May 24th, 2010 at 5:45 pm
I love how you tied the lost ending to writing, because yes, this is absolutely true–we do have to trust that the readers will make some connections on their own.
I loved the Finale, and felt that it was the ‘right’ ending. It’s hard to let go of, just because I felt it was such an amazing series as a whole.
Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse
May 24th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
Lisa, I loved the X-Files but I kind of gave up on it at the end for that same reason. You’re definitely right – we need to have SOME idea of where things are going as we’re writing!
Anne, that’s a very good point – writing a series and writing a novel are very different animals. I do think, though, that having some sort of larger plan is a good idea even if you’re writing in a more episodic way. Mr. Ekko was definitely one of my favorite characters, but sadly he didn’t seem to have any real role in the larger story.
May 24th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
There were some parts of LOST that I liked/loved but the ending I’m still not so sure about. I do think the dog Vincent was totally awesome in the end though.
But it also has me thinking about endings as well. Do you want your readers to be curiously intrigued or totally lost?
I’ll take curiously intrigued for $500 Alex. LOL.
But seriously, there were many emotional moments that I loved. And I will miss the show — warts and all. It was like having a dysfunctional friend.
May 25th, 2010 at 9:18 am
Angela, I’m glad you enjoyed the finale. There were parts I loved (like the last part with Jack on the beach) but I couldn’t help wondering about those loose ends. Still, I’m sad it’s over!
Karen, the whole show was such a roller coaster, wasn’t it? No wonder the finale left me feeling so up and down! But yes, I would also choose curiously intrigued. No idea what show I’ll obsess over now.
May 25th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
I can’t remember it exactly, but there’s a quote that says something like “the first chapter sells your book, the last chapter sells your next book.” Endings are SO important.
“An ending should be both surprising and inevitable.” I would love to be able to accomplish that, but I’m struggling. Do you have any books in mind when you say that? I have enjoyed plenty of books that seemed to have inevitable endings or surprise endings. Maybe it’s just one of those mornings, but I can’t think of many that have both. HP 6, maybe – it’s surprising at first, but then you realize it’s inevitable that H has to face V alone.
Sorry, I’m procrastinating again, trying to figure out how it’s done. Feel free to disregard.
May 25th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
Sheila, I think picture books are the best places to look for surprising yet inevitable endings because they often have unexpected twists at the end. (I love examining picture book structure and applying it to novels.)
But in terms of novels, let’s see…off the top off my head I would say Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars, A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly, and Skellig by David Almond. All of them had endings that brought the pieces of the story together but did so in a way that wasn’t completely obvious.
May 25th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Oh and I would add Before I Fall and When You Reach Me to the list (now that I’m looking at my bookshelf).
May 25th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Thanks! I haven’t read any of those. And the picture book suggestion is great.