Sad Endings

[mirrorrorrim]

I'm still quite a long way off, but the eventual ending I have planned for my story is quite a sad one. When I first conceived of it, I hadn't gotten to know my characters very well yet, and so it seemed easy to have things turn out the way they will. Now, though, after having spent hundreds of hours with them, I find it much harder to take my creations in the direction I intend to. Even worse, I can't imagine that my readers, whose feelings I value much more than my own, will be satisfied with how I end things.

What can I do? Can I still be true to my original story, disregarding its probable impact, or should I rewrite it in such a way that my audience and I will be happier?

Does anyone have experience they could share on writing sad endings, on how they were able to make them work effectively, or, in the other direction, how they were able to successfully change something from what was originally planned?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Chilari]

Oh I know that feeling. I have conceived so many different endings for one of my stories, some happy, others sad, some somewhere in the middle. But in my plans and notes, the word "tragedy" is pre-eminent when I discuss the ending. I just can't write it. When I can manage to write an ending, it's generally soppy, ultimately happy, and I never quite get to the words "the end" with them. I get bored, or perhaps knowing such endings are not what I really want for the story, don't persevere. I've been having so much trouble with it that I wrote a poem about it.

To be honest, I'm not sure how much help I can be given that I struggle to find my own solution. My view is that, for my story, I should try to keep the tragic ending as planned, if I ever manage to write on that story again. The story up until the start of the ending is all about building up the elements which will make it a tragedy, about the escalation of events such that the tragic ending is inevitable. The story's place in the planned quadrilogy (3rd) and the ongoing story of the immortal character's life mean that this must be a tragedy; it's a turning point, the point he can't face when, a few hundred years later he's writing his memoirs (by comparison, he is able to write about the death of his wife back when he was still mortal). So not only because I've planned it this way, but also because it has wider implications, far-reraching consequences which are vital to book 4, I cannot and should not change what I am planning.

Not knowing the reasons behind your plan to have a sad ending, I can't particularly comment on it, but I suggest you think about the reasons you want a sad ending, and whether the story overall would suffer or benefit from a happy ending.

Good luck. If my own struggles with my story (which have lasted two years and counting) are anything to go by, you may well need it.

 

[ScipioSmith]

When I was first planning my novel in progress it had a very down ending as two of the friends and his little brother died, and even though he won the fight there was a sense that all he'd done was postpone the inevitable fall of his country to a later point.

Then my psychiatrist told me that this wasn't helping my struggle with depression so I decided I'd better change it up a bit.

The main advice I'd give you is that if you're going to change the ending really change it my first redraught kept all the deaths but then reversed them with a deus ex machina sacrifice by the hero which was then undone by another deus ex machina. I was rightly called out for this on another writing forum.

The second thing is that the end still has to be consistent with the tone of the rest of the story. My work now has a much lighter tone, so a happy ending works. If you've been consciously building to a sad ending, be prepared for rewrites.

Hope this helped a bit.

 

[San Cidolfus]

We've all written bad endings, be it for individual plot arcs or entire works. As you pointed out, you're quite fond of your characters and don't want to see the great terrible thing happen to them, but you're wracked by the question of whether or not it works for the story. Only you can decide if it works for the story, but tragic endings tend to be as much about personal issues as they are machinations of the writer.

I guess I've averaged about half and half between tragic endings and optimistic endings. Orchestrating a tragic ending can be a cathartic experience. We love our characters, they're real to us, so why do we do these awful things to them? Part of the answer lies in why we write in the first place: it's an expression of who we are and how we have lived. We toil and suffer, and through our creations we can achieve some absolution. We bleed our own sins and inequities through such tragedy, and hope to find some redemption in its aftermath.

That said, readers tend to prefer happy endings. They're more likely to pick up another of your stories if the first one doesn't leave them wanting to bash their own faces in with a shovel. An ending doesn't need to be saccharine--I don't think I've ever written a classically happy ending; even my anthologies in 7th grade ended with a lot of people dying--but there is quite a bit of merit in leaving the audience grinning. Maybe your hero didn't get the bad guy, but he foiled some plans, kicked a lot of ass, and by God, he'll be ready for another round when that bad guy rears his ugly pucker again!

Also, just as an aside, do you give your characters free reign? I always ignore my notes in favor of my characters reacting organically to the situation in which I've placed them, and this always results in a stronger, more dynamic narrative. This is also a tried-and-true method by which your characters can escape the awful things you have planned. Stop and ask yourself: what would this character do right here? They'd never be so stupid as to walk into this situation like I've got planned; they'd stop and punch that bad guy in the face, take his wallet, and stroll right the hell out! Tragedy averted.

I know my characters are more clever than I am, and I let them do what they will. This always results in what's right for the story, because the story can direct itself, if you let it.

 

[The Grey Sage]

I actually prefer to see a sad ending, or a mixed ending. For one character maybe he fails but for another he succeeds.

 

[Arcturus]

Normally I take the Schrodinger's cat approach when it comes to endings I don't like. Most of the time it's because my characters go rogue, but in the event that I do feel sorry for them, I write multiple endings for the story. That way the characters are simultaneously dead and alive. When it comes to audience, I suppose you can decide later on if you want to show the depressing end or the not-so-depressing one, at least you have the knowledge that somewhere in a different universe within the context of your story, your character isn't actually miserable.

 

[TWErvin2]

Sad endings can work, but even with those an element of 'hope' might be appropriate.

Is sadness and despair how you want to leave the readers when they read 'the end'? Maybe, maybe not.

 

[sashamerideth]

I am unsure here. My plan is for my main character to die, but the remaining characters continue with their other goals.

 

[Anders Ämting]

I am quite against sad endings. Heck, I don't even like bittersweet endings, but sad endings are right out.

I make exceptions for tragedies, because a tragedy isn't the same thing as a sad story. Tragedies are about characters who ruin and destroy themselves as a result of their choices and character flaws. A true tragic ending feels appropriate because it's what the protagonist was heading for all along.

See, I don't necessarily like tragedies, but I can respect them because writing a decent one takes a bit of skill. But if a story is just sad for no particular reason, and the hero dies or the lovers are separated just because life is random and unfair... that just kinda pisses me off! I read books to get away from the harsh realities of life.

 

[Devor]

What can I do? Can I still be true to my original story, disregarding its probable impact, or should I rewrite it in such a way that my audience and I will be happier?

I was always taught that good writing is first and foremost about delivering an impact to your readers, and not just about telling whatever story you want to tell. In my opinion, you bend the story to make the impact you want to make, rather than stick to your story readers be darned.

As a reader, and a writer, I like when the ending is happy, but the penultimate climax is tragic. I feel that there needs to be a permanent loss of some kind in order for the conflict have real meaning.

You can figure out how those thoughts figure into your story. I will say that in my story I've constructed a small town that I really love, my MC's home town, and I'm struggling because my original outline called for it to burn down. So I created another town to burn down instead, which I also have come to really like, and I can see with my eyeballs that it was a cop-out to do so. I'm not sure what I'm going to do just yet. I think the first town may burn down as I had planned, and the second town will help to mitigate the fallout. "We can rebuild! Survivors came here." That kind of thing. The reason it's difficult, though, is because the towns are relatively original and idyllic. I've created other locations that were easy, even fun to destroy.

 

[void141]

You could maybe try writing the ending as you initially conceived it, but giving the remaining characters (I somehow suppose that there will be dead people and alive people in the end) some positive, optimistic closure. Something along the lines of - dead is dead, tragedy is tragedy, but we have to live on because blah blah... That way readers will go through this catharsis that all of us experience when faced with tragedy in the works of art, but they are not left without hope, alone in the dark and despair.

 

[Voldermort]

"The Grey" shows you that sad endings are acceptable.

 

[mirrorrorrim]

Thank you so much for your help, everyone! As I've read your comments, I realize that it would be unfair to both my readers and nd my story to change the ending and make it happier. Chilari, just like yours, my story builds to the ending I have planned, and I don't think it would feel genuine to change that. But I also don't want to leave my readers depressed at the end. ScipioSmith, I don't think I'm prolific enough of a writer to want to do all the rewrites necessary to give my story a different tone! San Cidolfus, I'm definitely a character-oriented writer, if that's what you're asking. I try not to ever have any of my characters do anything unnatural just to move the plot along. Because of this, I don't think I can change the ending just by giving my characters "free reign"–it's their own decisions that lead them ending into being what it is.

Devor, I think you may have given me my solution. You wrote, "I like when the ending is happy, but the penultimate climax is tragic." After reading that, I thought of all of my favorite sad stories, and I realized that, while they did have very sad events near the end, they always ended a little after that, on a happier note. I believe I will move my last planned chapter, and make it my second-or-third-to-last one, instead. I was never happy with my characters being so full of despair at the end of my book, but because of what happens right before it ends, nothing else seemed realistic, coming so soon after. But that meant my story was lacking, as TWErvin2 put it, "an element of 'hope'". I think, more than anything, that's what hasn't been sitting well with me.

I don't think I'll go Harry Potter and add a "ten years later" scene, but a final chapter that's a few months, or even a few weeks later, will allow me to show that everything the main characters suffered ended up being worth it, and that they were able to move on with their lives and find a measure of peace and comfort. So, while still sad, my ending will no longer be without hope.

Do you think that'll work?

Edit: void141, this seems to be what you're suggesting, as well. I think I'll just try to do it without the "blah blah".

 

[void141]

Oh, I somehow missed that part of Devor's post, otherwise I would just 100% agree with him and spare myself trying to explain what I had on my mind

As for your new plan - I think that's it. Show some positive results of the past suffering, and the ending will have cathartic feel to it while still leaving the readers positive and content. You don't even have to show any peace and comfort - you can just foreshadow it, and it will be enough.

Also, yes, blah-blah might not be the best thing to incorporate into your novel - it's not worth a writers' forum post either, but I was in a hurry.

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

"The Grey" shows you that sad endings are acceptable.

I think Hamlet beat "The Grey" to the punch. ;-)

 

[Chilari]

I think Hamlet beat "The Grey" to the punch. ;-)

Pretty sure Euripides beat Shakespeare to the punch.

Actually, after reading this thread and the replies (and also the trilogies thread), I really started thinking about why I was struggling so much with my tragic ending story, and have finally worked out what the real issue behind it is. The reason I can't stop thinking about the story is because I believe in it; the reason I struggle to write it is because I don't believe in my ability to write a tragedy. So I'm going to go back right to the beginning of tragedy and look at what makes those ancient Greek plays so powerfully tragic, and see what I can take form them, in terms of pacing and character agency, to apply to my novel. And then I'm going to stop with the self-doubt, or at least ignore it, and just write as best I can according to the plan.

I might have to think more about whether to have a hopeful wrapping-up bit at the end, as mirrorrorrim now plans to do, because I'm not sure it'll fit, but this thread, dispite being fairly short still, has already helped me a huge amount when thinking about tragedy.

 

[Ghost]

I've never gotten to the ending of a full-length novel, so I can't help from personal experience...

Maybe you could outline or mentally sketch a few different endings and make a pro/con list for them. "Pro: this ending doesn't wreck my characters' lives. Con: it feels like a cop-out." Something like that.

Tone helps. Perhaps things don't end well for your character, but the character remains hopeful or regains hope. I read a novel once that ended while the MC was in prison. Normally, an ending like that bothers me, but the author ended with the character feeling optimistic, so I felt optimistic too. [This post was started a few days ago, and now I see others have beat me to the punch.]

I don't think you should go for the ending that makes you feel happy or safe. You should go for the one that is more satisfying. Sometimes happy endings aren't satisfying because the author couldn't follow through with the promise made in the beginning, middle, and climax. She'll cobble together a more cheerful ending, and it rings hollow because it doesn't feel true. There shouldn't be a large emotional gap between the ending and the rest of the novel.

I wouldn't worry about original plans if you decide a change is needed. You should do what feels right for the story as it is now, not what felt right when the story was unwritten.

 

[Voldermort]

Pretty sure Euripides beat Shakespeare to the punch.

Actually, after reading this thread and the replies (and also the trilogies thread), I really started thinking about why I was struggling so much with my tragic ending story, and have finally worked out what the real issue behind it is. The reason I can't stop thinking about the story is because I believe in it; the reason I struggle to write it is because I don't believe in my ability to write a tragedy. So I'm going to go back right to the beginning of tragedy and look at what makes those ancient Greek plays so powerfully tragic, and see what I can take form them, in terms of pacing and character agency, to apply to my novel. And then I'm going to stop with the self-doubt, or at least ignore it, and just write as best I can according to the plan.

I might have to think more about whether to have a hopeful wrapping-up bit at the end, as mirrorrorrim now plans to do, because I'm not sure it'll fit, but this thread, dispite being fairly short still, has already helped me a huge amount when thinking about tragedy.

"The Grey" shows you how tragedy works. You still go on the journey but loss is consistent throughout.

Like most Americans, my vocab doesn't stretch past Hollywood references, Besides, whaddayawantmetodo, read Euripides and Shakespeare....gettouttahere.

 

[Chilari]

I shall have to look at The Grey. But there's nowt wrong with Euripides. The Penguin translations are very accessible, the plays aren't particularly long, and they're very well written and crafted - they are, quite simply, the very best tragedies produced in classical Athens, hence their survival. They won prizes at the Dionysia, a religious festival where plays were performed, and tragedies were given greater precedence than comedies. You can probably get them for free online, too.

 

[Voldermort]

I don't know why people are so hung up on the Greeks.

I'm willing to bet that modern film would win in a Hollywood vs Greek story off.

Hollywood is so underrated.

Call me a philistine.