With this talk of character development rolling backwards for tension, another question comes to mind. That is: When should one end a story?
I know people will say when the characters achieve their goals or the author feels like they’ve done all they can. We know those answers, but those things aren’t always identifiable in the moment. All authors can push a story too far because they are enamored with the adventure and characters. There are ways to prolong a finale as well, which many have utilized when they don’t want to stop.
The first example that I can think of is the anime ‘Inuyasha’. This is about a girl who goes back to feudal Japan where demons exist and has to team up with a half-demon named Inuyasha. Their goal is to get all of the shards of this magic jewel she accidentally broke a few episodes in. The main enemy is another demon named Naraku and this is where things start to get a little iffy. Several of the storylines involve Inuyasha developing a new attack that is sure to destroy Naraku. He does it and they fight, but Naraku either escapes barely alive or is already immune to the attack. Wash, rinse, and repeat. This can and usually does get tedious.
This also stunts character development. If the protagonists have already matured as far as they can go without settling down, they need to be pushed back to continue. A fight over a misunderstanding can do this for a storyline. Maybe magic causes them to turn into children or lose their memory. The author, who wishes to keep going, may come up with some of the most ridiculous ways to rollback a character and then redevelop them. It might work once, but readers will pick up on the stalling tactic fairly easily.
In this regards, I feel that the time to end a story would be when the characters have matured as far as they can go. You can have them continue adventuring to complete the story, but they will become stagnant in the eyes of the reader if they take too long to reach their endings. Loading up more abilities, tools, and skills won’t help because they could become overpowered. This means the villain needs to be made stronger as well, which can result in a final battle between two beings that come off as being unbeatable. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it can become fairly burdensome to write when you have to remember a long list of moves, spells, abilities, weapons, etc.
Now, should character development always dictate the end of a story? No, but it is a good sign that of your progress. This should be one of the things an author pays attention to and distances themselves from. Becoming blind to the progress of your protagonists to stop the fun from happening can sour the whole project. This is where beta readers can come in handy because they won’t be as emotionally attached. Do people still use beta readers?
Anyway, what do you think is a clear sign that a story should come to an end?
Legends of Windemere 
I’m probably a little different. When you write mysteries, the story ends when the mystery is solved. Likewise with historical fiction – the story ends when your central character dies.
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Mysteries definitely have a solid ending point. With historical fiction, can it go on with another character that takes up the mantel? I’m guessing if it’s about an event or group more than a solitary person.
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Mine are about individuals. If your writing about a family, it can go on and on.
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Cool. That makes sense.
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I wrote two historical fiction books that don’t end with the character dying. They, as many books, ended when the character had reached the end of their arc.
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That’s another way to handle it but my main characters were real people and reader want to know what happened to them
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Given a genre’s key scenes and conventions, I see an opportunity to tap into the audience’s expectations. They sum up in Amazon comments. High notes in the 5 ratings, and their shared disappointment often showing up in the negatives. When a top writer gets thrashed after multiple hits, there’s a gold to mine in those comments. I agree, especially for a series, it’s too easy to get enamored with a story and not end on the right note. Thanks for the challenge, Charles, to figure this out before hitting the publish button.
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You’re welcome. Good luck with publishing. Really well said too.
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Always a challenge when to end things. Carefully planned plots can have a few unexpected events that make the previously planned ending needing revision. I don’t think there is a pure formula but what I try to do is write the last three lines before beginning the MS. Then at least there is a target. Yes I still use beta readers.
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Interesting tactic. Have you ever had to alter the last three lines?
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Directionally they were okay but, yes, they always have to be altered.
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Probably a good thing. Stories rarely meet the exact ending we expect.
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😊
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Third try to comment, then I’m giving up. I struggled with this all winter. My adventure ended about a month before my payoff arrived. This is based upon real world calendaring. I didn’t want to jump ahead because then the story is too short for my series. I tried to fill it with fun things and still get to the point soon.
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Are people having trouble commenting everywhere?
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A lot of us are.
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I know a lot of readers want a series, and I’m more comfortable with stand-alone books. But for me, the story should end when the problem is solved. Ideally the characters have matured in the process.
That said, I do like to put an extra half chapter or so at the end. The characters may reflect on what they went through, or there may be hints of their future. I think it also gives the reader a space to reflect.
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Epilogues work well for character development closure. Shows where they all went and if they did anything after the adventure.
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