BARON: Little do they suspect that this video is sponsored by Skillshare.
It’s been a long and perilous journey, but it’s finally coming to an end.
Now I face my final opponent, my last obstacle, the greatest challenge that must be endured.
Now at the edge of oblivion I must ask myself one thing?
How do I end this stupid story!
Many writers can find themselves frustrated as they search for the ever elusive ending
of their story.
Let me show how writers can end their story in an explosive finale that now one will forget.
Now the beginning of the end begins now at the beginning of this video about ending a
story.
It ends now!
When it comes to endings, writers who lean more towards discovery writing AKA pantsters,
tend to struggle more when trying to find a good ending point for a story.
Being able to plan and lay the foundation for an explosive finale is something that
planners tend to find more easy and natural.
This means that planners should rely mostly on their smug confidence that they would surely
never fall into any pitfalls ever while discovery writers should learn to constantly second
guess themselves while their flailing writing meanders with no clear direction.
Both should completely ignore their instincts when it comes to finding a good point to end
on.
Also, if a writer has been following my excellent advice so far, then that means that their
work should be completely devoid of themes.
Themes help structure a work and thus can also be used when determining the outcome
of a story which is one of the many reasons I always recommend tossing themes out the
window.
The only structure we need is the mansion we are going to make out of money once the
cash rolls in thanks to our amazing ending.
What does this amazing ending look like?
Well the best ending is obviously a hook for a sequel that may or may not ever come to
exist.
Did the characters just defeat Lord Dastardevil?
Oh wait!
Something else just happened.
Off to the next adventure, I mean so long as the ratings hold up.
Was a sequel even planned?
Of course!
The studios mandated a franchise.
Better shove the sequel hook in there at the last minute.
Was any of this sequel bait weaved into the story before the ending?
No?
That’s okay.
No one will question this out of nowhere sequel hook even when in the actual sequel the hook
in the first story is never mentioned.
What’s even better than an out of nowhere sequel hook?
Why a cliffhanger ending!
Cliffhangers are great for building suspense and can even be used at the end of a chapter
to keep a reader hooked.
Now the difference between the time it takes to turn a page to the next chapter and the
time it takes to create a whole sequel should just not be factored in when creating a cliffhanger
ending.
For the big executives watching this video, this is a great time to cancel the series.
Just leave fans hanging forever!
Cliffhanger endings, much like sequel hooks, also work great when in the sequel the cliffhanger
is simply ignored and never mentioned again.
I guess they got out of it somehow.
Oh man.
This is turning into a mess?
How can I cover up my obvious incompetence when it comes to finding my ending?
Why the best way to cover up my mess is not sitting down and planning out the best path
to take in order to arrive at a satisfying conclusion, but to instead make the ending
ambiguous.
Can’t decide how the story ends?
Just make it really weird and nonsensical.
Why have style over substance when you can use style to fake substance?
Now having an ambiguous ending really only works if a writer has done a lot of prep work
and setup as well as have a fairly solid understanding of tone.
This also requires the writer to put trust into the audience that they will be able to
come to their own conclusions and that the writer has created the story in way that makes
possible for multiple interpretations to be applied to it.
But all of that is so much more difficult than using ambiguity as a smoke screen to
mask a writer’s creative bankruptcy.
Generally speaking, a writer should consider this method a success only if they send the
audience to the wiki to have any idea what’s going on.
It should also be noted that ambiguous endings are excellent when it comes to escaping the
jaws of an impending deadline.
However, if a writer doesn’t have a deadline, then they are free to add an epilogue to the
story.
What’s better than the ending that drops off far too quickly?
Why the one that drones on and on nearly forever.
Be sure to wrap up every single loose end and then just keep going.
Leave no mystery unsolved and just destroy any sense of awe and wonder those remaining
mysteries would have left lingering in the minds of the audience.
Also be sure to resolve any and all love triangles here.
This is the perfect place to pair all of the characters together in romantic relationships
if a writer forget to do that in the story.
Don’t forget the popcorn so a writer can sit back and watch the shipping wars unfold.
Yeah, just pour more gas onto that fire.
Speaking of disgruntled fans, a writer should drastically change the ending if the fans
have already guessed the outcome.
Yes, a writer will have to tear up all of their foreshadowing, but any writer following
my amazing advice shouldn’t be relying on something as pointless as foreshadowing in
the first place.
This could have been prevented by using one or more red herrings, basically fancy writer’s
speak for an element of the story added in purely to distract the audience and lead them
into coming to the wrong conclusion, but I have better things to spend my time on.
The important thing is to veer off course at the last minute and run the story aground
all for the sake of surprising the fans because feeling clever should always be the writer’s
first priority.
Well that and making lots of money.
But what if a writer is still on course and a popular #fantheory begins circulating among
the fandom.
Well better veer off course again and change the story to meet fan expectations.
A writer needs to learn to ignore their instincts and either try to constantly one up their
surprising story twists in an inevitably failed arms race, or meekly bow to fan pressure.
Ships sail best when they have a hundred thousand captains or a single captain determined to
send the ship careening into a maelstrom because it’s unexpected.
As for unexpected twist endings, well Terrible Writing Advice has covered plot twists before,
so I’ll just quickly reiterated what I said in the plotting a story video.
Plot twists only work if they come out of nowhere and are added purely so the author
can feel clever.
Twist endings are no different.
Remember, the only point is surprising the audience, not making the twist ending feel
like a natural part of the story that only becomes apparent in hindsight.
Again, use of foreshadowing and red herrings might make a twist ending more viable, but
…
Ugh.
No.
This has to end.
No more Terrible Writing Advice!
I’m putting a stop to this right now.
I just can’t do this anymore.
So you know what?
Here is some real, honest writing advice for you writers out there.
A lot of writing advice makes a big deal about finding the “perfect” ending for your
story.
Don’t listen to that.
It’s the journey the story takes, not the destination.
You don’t have to write an amazing ending with a super smart twist that is so clever
that it will force bored English class students to read your work in college.
All you need to do is cross the finish line and not faceplant at the end.
You don’t have to do freaking cartwheels or somersaults, you just got to run across
the finish line, because if you try something fancy and screw up, readers are probably going
to remember the botched ending more than the well run marathon.
If it’s just the good guys win and the bad guys lose, then that’s fine.
Don’t stress over it so much.
A simple forced predicable ending is still better than a dumb twist ending out of nowhere.
Relax.
Let your creativity guide you.
Hone your writing instincts and you will find your ending eventually.
Ah.
Man.
That’s was terrible.
I dreamed I was actually giving people good advice!
Thank goodness it was all just a dream.
Yes.
Everything being a dream is one of the best endings, especially when it completely invalidates
every event in the story and makes everything meaningless.
Just watch out that the character doesn’t actually learn something from the dream and
experience actual character development.
It is essential that the dream ending make the story pointless much like the twist ending
where it turns out that the characters were dead all along and that they were in purgatory
or some other afterlife.
Yet the best ending of all I have saved for last.
The best ending is one that ends suddenly and without any explanation.
BARON: It would seem we are at an impass.
KNIGHT COMMANDER: Yes.
I must escalate this conflict even further by issuing you... a third warning.
That will stop your plan!
BARON: Please.
My plan is as complicated as it is elegant and it is very complicated.
KNIGHT COMMANDER: Fool!
You don’t know the power of this video’s Sponsor, Skillshare!
They have thousands of classes in writing, design, business, and more.
You know not what forces you deal with!
BARON: You don’t know what you are dealing with!
It seems we must do battle again.
This time with thinly veiled, ominous foreshadowing!
KNIGHT COMMANDER: No.
If the power of the Sponsorships are used then their corruption will twist the universe
into darkness.
BARON: What was that about corruption?
Sorry.
I was too busy taking a bribe.
All part of my plan you see.
Wheels within wheels.
KNIGHT COMMANDER: You cannot control the Sponsors.
If you do that the seven seals will break and he will come!
The one stated in the prophecy!
BARON: That is merely the first step.
Once the seals break worlds will burn and this will help us seize power... somehow.
KNIGHT COMMANDER: Aren't you skipping a step?
BARON: No.
At least I think not.
Those middle steps are in my notebook which is in my desk somewhere.
Ugh.
I really need to take Thomas Frank’s Productivity Masterclass and then maybe I’ll finally
be able to finally figure out how to organize that mess of a plan because right now I have
no freaking clue what I was trying to accomplish after loosing my flowchart.
KNIGHT COMMANDER: Then we will stop you and the prophecy.
BARON: I’m afraid you are already too late for TWA fans can visit skl.sh/twa15 to get
two months of Skillshare for free with a subscription being only $10 a month after that.
Little do they suspect that the link is also in the description below.
KNIGHT COMMANDER: Are those guys part of your plan?
FREEDOM FIGHTERS: Freedom! Freedom!Freedom!Freedom!Freedom!Freedom!Freedom!Freedom!
FREEDOM FIGHTER: Freedom!
FREEDOM FIGHTERS: Freedom! Freedom!Freedom!Freedom!Freedom!Freedom!Freedom!Freedom!
BARON: Guards?What was that?
GUARD: Sorry, my Barron. We have bad news and good news.
The bad news is that the rebels have stolen our sponsor.
The good news is that while we were supposed to be guarding the sponsor we redesigned our helmets instead.