3 dissatisfying story endings, and potential solutions

Sign showing a person stumbling along a dangerous cliff with words: Danger Cliff Edge. This sign is displayed on the grass next to a cliff edge overlooking water.. Image by Aitoff at Pixabay.

A couple of weeks ago I talked about how a Goodreads survey revealed that 15% of readers will put down a book if the first chapter doesn’t grab them (you can read that post here). But, while a reader may be hooked by a first chapter, and intrigued enough to continue reading the entire book, if the ending leaves them wanting then they’re unlikely to recommend the book to friends or leave a positive review.

So, what kinds of endings are likely to leave readers feeling dissatisfied?

1. The cliffhanger

The purpose of this ending (from the author’s perspective) is to get readers to quickly go out and buy the next book in the series. However, from a reader’s point of view, this kind of ending is usually frustrating. They read all this way only to be told they have to go out and buy and read another book to get some sense of closure from the story. And if this author didn’t choose to provide a satisfying resolution for this story, what’s to say they’ll do so in their next book? Nothing, which is why many readers won’t pick up the next book.

2. The abrupt ending

This ending also fails to provide any satisfying sense of closure for readers. Maybe the main plot line has wrapped up (or not), but that’s about it. While readers don’t need every last detail closed off, most readers want at least some sense of how the main characters are doing after their journey concludes. This emotional resolution could be provided in many different ways, but simply stopping the story when it feels like the characters are getting close to achieving their goals and then telling readers they achieved them isn’t likely to result in rave reviews.

3. The confused ending

This ending can leave readers wondering what actually happened. Sometimes this can be in a good (or good-ish) way, depending on your perspective and the story’s genre (I’m thinking mostly of literary fiction here, which can contain many layers for readers to figure out, and which is a genre where readers expect to do some unravelling). However, it can just as often simply be a muddle because the author somehow got lost along the way and didn’t go back to string their various plot threads together/restructure their novel. This is how an ending that seems to have little to do with the main story comes about.

So, if you’re an author and you have one of these endings, what can you do about it?

Possible solutions

1. The cliffhanger

Generally speaking, to fix a cliffhanger ending you can resolve the cliffhanger and let the story go on for however much longer it needs to. If you’re writing a series and you want readers to be left with some suspense after they finish reading, then consider leaving a subplot/s open instead. This will allow you to keep part of the story world open, while also providing readers with a sense of closure regarding the main plot in this book. This means they’re more likely to look forward to reading your next book.

2. The abrupt ending

To make an abrupt ending more satisfying for readers, let the main story go on for a little bit longer. This way readers are left with a stronger picture of the main characters and how they’ve changed as a result of the story.

3. The confused ending

Finally, to fix a confused ending, you really need to look at the entirety of your story to see where it’s gone off kilter. This solution is likely to involve significant rewriting. One tip for looking at the entirety of your story is to create an outline of the story as you’ve written it (this is different to any outline you may have created to assist with the writing itself, as the story may have changed along the way). Another idea is to create a book map, which is a similar principle, but which charts specific elements of your story, such as your characters, settings, subplots, etc.

To sum up

Of course, all of this is very general advice that may not apply to your manuscript. For specific advice and solutions tailored to your manuscript, I’d recommend getting in touch with a developmental editor who works in your genre. If you’re writing mystery/suspense, historical fiction or magical realism then I’d love to hear from you. You can contact me using the button below.