ROUND THINGS OFF

What makes a good ending? Should it make you laugh – or cry – or think? This will depend on the genre, of course. It may make you shudder – as in The October Game, a story by Ray Bradbury in which the horrible truth dawns with the last sentence; ‘Then . . . some idiot turned on the lights.’

• What endings have you found particularly memorable?
• Would you rather end with action or reflection?

Some of the most satisfying endings bring the story full circle, like a piece of music returning to its original key. Good examples are the endings of two of the novels quoted in the first part of this chapter.

• (Italo Calvino: If on a winter’s night a traveller) ‘And you say, “Just a moment, I’ve almost finished If on a winter’s night a traveller by Italo Calvino.”’
• (Kate Atkinson: Behind the Scenes at the Museum) ‘I am alive. I am a precious jewel. I am a drop of blood. I am Ruby Lennox.’

Some authors manage to sum up the whole story in a masterly final stroke. As does Anita Brookner in Hotel du Lac:

• ‘. . . she wrote “Coming home.” But, after a moment, she thought that this was not entirely accurate and, crossing out the words “Coming home,” wrote simply, “Returning.”’

Margaret Atwood, in Cat’s Eye (see beginning of chapter) manages to bring the story full circle and sum it up in an extraordinarily poignant final paragraph:

• ‘Now it’s full night, clear, moonless and filled with stars, which are not eternal as was once thought, which are not where we think they are. If they were sounds, they would be echoes, of something that happened millions of years ago: a word made of numbers. Echoes of light, shining out of the midst of nothing. It’s old light, and there’s not much of it. But it’s enough to see by.’

Study endings

Return to the book and video you studied in Chapter 4. Study the endings of both. Do they fit any of the categories of ending mentioned above?

Transpose them, as before. Does this work?

Again, study performed and written work, this time focusing on endings. Note what works, what does not, and any changes that could be made. Try some more transpositions.

Select the final sentences of five novels to use in the next section.

Start at the end and work backwards

Brainstorm

Take each of your final sentences in turn. Spend five minutes brainstorming possible penultimate sentences for each one.

Do some timed writing

Use each of your final sentences and some of your brainstormed sentences as the ending toward which your timed writing is heading. (You are probably practised enough by now to sense when the buzzer is going to sound.)

Create a new story

Similarly, take a favourite beginning and write towards it to create a new story. When the story is finished, write your own ending.

Unfortunately traditional endings do not provide the same impetus as traditional beginnings: The End . . . That’s all folks . . . Here endeth the lesson . . . Thank you and goodnight. . . R.I.P. . .

Yours sincerely. These do not have the same energy raising qualities. You may disagree.