# The Bittersweet Ending, To Do or Not ?



## Caged Maiden (Jul 14, 2014)

SO I hated the ending of my novel.  I've put a lot of time and effort into this since 2011 and worked very little on anything else.  I'm really torn over the ending.  I have been for months, which is why I've worked tirelessly on everything leading up to it and am feeling really confident in the story.  But the ending sucks, no matter how I consider it.  So recently, a friend suggested I throw out my happily-ever-after plan and go for something more bittersweet.  As he was talking, he could have had no idea (never having read the book) how spot on his suggestion jived with the story leading up to the ending.  Wow.  BUt now I have to execute it.

How do you feel about a bittersweet ending?  How do you feel knowing the MC was innocent of his "crimes" and he dies before he gets to make his point?  

The story follows a man who commits a series of crimes against the city and government, all to effect social reform.  In the end, the social reform occurs, but the MC is accused of these serious crimes and basically postmortem, stripped of any dignity he might have had.  His family suffers, his wife suffers, and his father retires from his career as a lawman, all because this man led a crusade to reform the social structure of the city.  

Also, when he dies, everyone close to him knows he was either innocent or is shocked he "could do such a thing".  At the end, he looks to have tried to assassinate a city leader, when in reality, he saved the man's life.  BUt it looks to everyone present, like he tried to kill this guy and failed to do it well enough.  The man is injured but limps away.  My hero however, is dead and can refute nothing. 

How do you judge whether an ending is a "good" one or not?  I mean, my story is a bit gritty and difficult, twists around every turn.  Would a bittersweet ending fit better in that case, or would you prefer to see the MC survive, live to see his own success, and live happy ever after?  Or after a gritty story, is it enough to know he won, even though to everyone else, it looks like he lost everything?


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## A. E. Lowan (Jul 14, 2014)

If that's the natural ending of the story, in keeping with the tone of the rest of the book and in keeping with the characters, then that's how the story ends.  Period.  You've been fighting a "happily ever after" for a reason.  Because in your heart, where the story lives, it apparently doesn't work.  So write this and see if it feels better.  Don't ask us.  We're not writing it.  The characters don't live inside us.  They live in you.  Let your characters decide.


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## Lace (Jul 14, 2014)

I agree with Lowan. I usually hate an "unhappy ending" my husband gets mad at me because I always read the last page first. I have a busy life and to me, as silly as it may sound to everyone else, hate to waste my time reading a great book only to hate the ending. That being said, I totally think a bittersweet ending can be done. The first story that comes to mind is the ending for The Hunger Games trilogy. *SPOILER ALERT* The MC does in the end, help to change the way the country is run, but that success comes with a cost. For one, her sister, the one person she was trying to protect when she volunteered as tribute to begin with, dies fighting for the cause. Secondly, the MC and those who survive have a lot of mental and emotional issues to deal with, and they have to deal with them for the rest of their lives. And finally, while the war was won, things just didn't automatically get better, there is still a lot of work that has to be done. With that being said, I actually really liked the ending, it made it feel real and not "Ok, we won" and BAM everything is all hunky-dory! So, if you are having an issue killing him off, maybe try and find some middle ground. What if he doesn't die, but is always labeled as a "bad guy" from many of those around him and has to flee, or has to learn to live with the fact he will never get glorification for his heroic actions. Like Lowan said above, it's your story and you know what is best for it.


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## TWErvin2 (Jul 14, 2014)

From what's described, I think that as long as somebody knows the truth of it all--someone the main character cares about--then it would a satisfying ending for the reader.


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## Caged Maiden (Jul 15, 2014)

Yeah, people survive him.  That's most of what the ending means, that they wall know the truth, but could never prove his innocence.  He even writes all his crimes down in a letter to his father, about ten chapters from the ending as Insurance, but the letter ends up helping to ruin him.  Like I said, it all fits, and my friend couldn't have known how well his suggestion would blend into this story, but I think he's come up with the solution I was really looking for.  I'm still so nervous writing it, though.

Part of me is afraid readers will want a happy ending I don't deliver (even though most of the characters are okay in the end, but all emotionally scarred from their ordeal) and part of me just wonders how I didn't think of it on my own, it's PERFECT!

Thanks for weighing in.


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## skip.knox (Jul 15, 2014)

Be brave. Write the ending that makes sense to you, without worrying whether it's happy or bittersweet or any other sort of adjective.

For myself, I don't care about happy or unhappy. I want the ending to feel right. I want it to have appropriate weight--if the story is heavy, then the ending must be heavy; if the story is light, then the ending should be as well. Think of songs: a bouncy song should end on a bounce. A sad song should end sadly. It doesn't necessarily mean *we* are sad listening to it--the blues have persisted as a musical form for just that reason. None of Raymond Chandler's stories end happy, but they all end where and how they should.

Write it the way you feel it. You might write it badly, but it'll still be right!


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## Penpilot (Jul 15, 2014)

The story is what the story is, and the ending should fit that. I tend to lean towards bitter-sweet endings myself. One way I think about it is there's the bitter part of the ending, which the reader won't like, and then there's the sweet part, which is where you bring the reader back up just a little, adding a drop of hope into the mix.

I think you have those things. Yes, your hero died and is disgraced, but as long as the story takes a moment focus on the fact that someone still believes in his innocence, that may be enought. If you want to add a little bit more sweetness into the mix, you can leave the door open that the person who believes in his innocence may take up the task of convincing people of the truth, and that there's hope that maybe the hero may get exonerated.

Sometimes, when I'm stuck on my ending, I find it in a similar way you did, and that the problems I had was because I was trying to force the story to a place where it had no business going.


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## skip.knox (Jul 15, 2014)

There are so many writing tips on how to start a story, and so few on how to end one! I should think endings (denounements, final chapters, last paragraphs) are worth studying. Especially fantasy novels.

Think, for example, of how The Lord of the Rings ends. There's bittersweet, right?


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## T.Allen.Smith (Jul 15, 2014)

I forget the source of this quote/idea, but it's one I like to keep in mind when brainstorming endings.  

Story endings should be inevitable yet unpredictable.


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## Caged Maiden (Jul 15, 2014)

Thanks guys.  I'm happy to see that a fitting ending is more important than a happy one, because the more I think about it, the more I love a sort of tragic ending, but not just tragedy for the sake of shock, but a twist that really the story was building to the whole time...I just didn't know it.


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## ThinkerX (Jul 16, 2014)

Then in the next book, somebody with doubts about the official version does a bit of detective work...


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## ThinkerX (Jul 16, 2014)

Then in the next book, somebody with doubts about the official version does some detective work...


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## DaFlaminUnicorn (Jul 16, 2014)

honestly in my opinion you could have that ending which is ok but to make it a bit happier you could have somebody else investigate and prove his innocence. such as his brother or a friend or even somebody that he has no association to.  this in my opinion is a better end than him dying and his family is still shunned because nobody other than them knows of his innocence.


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## ascanius (Jul 17, 2014)

I suggest writing it, even if you are unsure and see how it is.  I've read a few books, good books but felt they could have been much better if the ending played out differently, usually by making it more in tune with the rest of the book.


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## Helen (Jul 17, 2014)

Caged Maiden said:


> Would a bittersweet ending fit better in that case, or would you prefer to see the MC survive, live to see his own success, and live happy ever after?



Everybody seems to be suggesting that changing the ending is a minor matter. But it's not. For a start, how will it effect the theme? It's not a small consideration.


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## Fyle (Jul 24, 2014)

What if the ending is just bitter but gives the reader an entertaining reveal and surprise? 

For me, not having any of the main characters die and survive an onslaught of battles, enemies plotting behind their backs, storms, sea voyages, disease you name is is much more of a dissapointment. For me unless the way each MC has escaped death really makes sense no story is complete. 

I also don't care too much about a point or a statement, life is random, people die everyday in the middle of all kinds of "stories" their life is becoming, there really is no definitive end to anything (unless you obliterate your world to dust and it needs to start from evolution  that happy ending is going to turn sour at some point to someone the MC is close with and cause tragedy)


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## Ryan_Crown (Jul 24, 2014)

I have to admit that I've always been a sucker for a happy ending, but at the same time, some of the most powerful stories I've come across have absolutely tragic endings. I think if you get readers to really care about your MC, while they will certainly hate to see him die, at the same time the emotional response you can generate with his death may resonate much more with your readers. They may not "like" the ending per se, but there's a good chance that the story will stick with them a lot longer with that ending than it would if all the characters rode off into the sunset to live happily ever after.


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## Mythopoet (Jul 24, 2014)

I like a good bittersweet ending, as long as it is a good mix of bitter and sweet and not just bitter.


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## psychotick (Jul 26, 2014)

Hi,

My view is that you've always got to give the reader something. Remember your reader has presumably invested in the character. They want to see him achieve something. Dying is okay, as long as it's not a complete defeat. So your struggle is to show that even in dying and in having his reputation shredded etc, he achieved something. Something that will matter to your MC. And he may not give a carp about his reputation, and was perfectly willing to accept dying for a cause - the question is - did he still achieve something?

I'm minded of the ending of Zelazny's Damnation Alley - great book by the way. His MC either lives or dies - it's not actually stated, just implied. But it's a great ending because he is true to his nature. He overcomes the bad as he must, then vanishes - presumed dead. But then turns up later - we assume - to deface his own statue placed there in his own honour. The point is he's a Hell's Angel. He does not want to be a hero. And he certainly doesn't want to be remembered as one.

So what does your guy want? What must he achieve in order to have succeeded - even if it costs him his life and his reputation? Answer this and you have your ending.

Cheers, Greg.


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## Caged Maiden (Jul 26, 2014)

Thanks.  Yeah, I think since the book follows five main characters, the loss of one isn't a deal-breaker for a reader.  While this one person is the glue that holds the story together, he DOES accomplish his goals, but at the loss of his life and reputation.  

His wife knows the truth, his allies who were there through all the plotting, know the truth.  It's just the public and officials who unjustly accuse him of treason.  So he gets called a traitor and his family and friends know they can't refute it, when half the town SAW him go try to blow up the pope and president.  Of course, the reader will know he was really saving their lives, but to everyone else, it just looks like he failed to kill them.

The closing scene will be one of sadness and hope.  His wife will be interrogated and lies through her teeth (an irony I hope will make the reader chuckle after the depth of the story) and while everyone who loves the character will try to get him out of trouble, they cannot overcome the evidence (which is pretty convincing that he was trying to kill those men).

In the end, the antagonist will be arrested  and be tried and slated for execution.  The social reform he wanted will happen.  His family will remember him as the man he was.  But to everyone else, he's a criminal who failed and the world is better off without him in it.

I think the main goal is for the execution of the main scene to show how very hopeless it is to prove his innocence and that his wife tries but fails to, and his father simply tenders his resignation rather than putting himself through a grueling election process that he'll probably lose.

I'm hoping with a gritty story that was never straight forward, the ending is SO fitting, it isn't even seen as bittersweet, but just "Wow.  I didn't see that coming."


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## Addison (Jul 26, 2014)

There is a way for both sides to win, so I've ready. I forget which writing book it was in. But let's say the MC's goal was to find a rare plant which was the only cure for a plague that was attacking his town. There's only so much of the plant and it's only in season for a brief period. (If you've seen Anaconda: Hunt for the Blood Orchid, it's like that) As if the ticking clock wasn't bad enough, an evil king or some such is dying of the plague as well. His prince, or wife or something, is going after the flower too. The dying person is evil, a duke or king or such, who's death will be celebrated by the people and saving him will allow him to do something that would make their lives miserable. 

So it's a race against time and each other. In the end both characters get some of the plant. So our MC saves his village and the goon saves the evil king. The village is saved and lives to see the King's new batch of misery. A bittersweet ending.


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## Bansidhe (Aug 9, 2014)

I confess: I'm not crazy with a lot of my endings, and I am the queen of the "happy for now" ending as opposed to the "happily ever after". 

Does your hero know he's going to die (or at least strongly suspect it?) Can he leave a journal or letter behind explaining everything that other characters find after he's gone?

Sometimes "happily ever after" just doesn't _work_, no matter how hard we try, because it just isn't _true_. And readers will revolt over an unbelievable ending than a bittersweet one. Trust your instincts and write fearlessly!


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