Questions 3: Endings

Posted on March 6, 2026 by Charles Yallowitz

Never-ending Story

As we’ve seen, endings can be difficult and many don’t land well. Many factors can contribute to that like author writing themselves into a bad spot, author forgetting foreshadowing, readers coming up with their own ending first, and readers not wanting the story to end. Let’s get some opinions though.

What is one way that authors can make a good ending?
What is a way that authors make a bad ending?
What is the best and worst ending you have ever read or watched?

About Charles Yallowitz

Charles E. Yallowitz was born, raised, and educated in New York. Then he spent a few years in Florida, realized his fear of alligators, and moved back to the Empire State. When he isn't working hard on his epic fantasy stories, Charles can be found cooking or going on whatever adventure his son has planned for the day. 'Legends of Windemere' is his first series, but it certainly won't be his last.

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6 Responses to Questions 3: Endings

L. Marie says:

March 6, 2026 at 10:14 am
1. Wrap up the main plot in a satisfying way. As you mentioned, foreshadowing is a great way to make the ending seem inevitable.
2. Some bad endings come through an author trying to subvert expectations through shock value without foreshadowing.
3. Some of the best endings were those that the authors/showrunners knew from the beginning and wrote toward them. They took time to end well. Avatar: The Last Airbender’s four-episode series finale; The Return of the King; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. You also ended your Legends of Windemere series well. I have read several young adult trilogies the authors of which admitted they didn’t know how the story should end when they wrote book 2. 😓 So the endings were not, in my opinion, satisfying. Many readers concurred.
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- Charles Yallowitz says:
  
  March 6, 2026 at 1:36 pm
  
  Subverting expectations were a big trend a few years ago. I don’t know why everyone was trying to trick their audience. It was less subtle and effective than shock deaths. Backlash was that you had readers who refused to get attached to characters or stories, which meant they abandoned the books or movies as soon as things seemed to go towards a twist.
  
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  - L. Marie says:
    
    March 6, 2026 at 3:45 pm
    
    Yeah, it’s hard to want to stick with a series or reread a book when that happens, unless it is done really well.
    
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  - Charles Yallowitz says:
    
    March 6, 2026 at 5:38 pm
    
    True. I guess you’re bound to subvert some expectations since people will try to guess what is coming. Yet, to tip over all of the foreshadowing is a big mistake.
    
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John W. Howell says:

March 6, 2026 at 4:20 pm
1. Authors can create a good ending by resolving all the conflicts, leaving none hanging.
2. Authors make a bad ending when they underestimate the intelligence of the reader and pull out an overused trope to end the story.
3. The best ending was in the movie Sixth Sense. The fact that the protagonist was dead was a shocker. It fit the story so well, though. The worst was the finale of the TV show Lost. It was just a dud.
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- Charles Yallowitz says:
  
  March 6, 2026 at 5:37 pm
  
  Do you think a bad ending could also happen if an author overestimates the intelligence of a reader? I forgot how amazing the twist ending of ‘Sixth Sense’ was since it’s been mocked so often.
  
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