How would you prefer to leave a story:
A 'happy for now' conclusion but without revealing what happened to the characters;
Or an epilogue that provides some finality, even if it is not a happy ending?
Just curious.
** Thanks for RejectReality and his superior lexicon for the title change.
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'Happy for now' or an Epilogue?
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Testing The Waters.
It depends upon the story.
As often as not, in this pen name, I leave everything at a HFN ending ( happily for now ) The stories aren't that deep, and are really only vehicles for a sex scene. There's resolution to whatever conflict I established, but I always have at least some little threads that could be pulled on if I choose to write a sequel. Nothing that screams for a follow-up, but enough to entice people to want more.
In deeper stories for my other pen names, ( some of which are here, but we can only have one pen name here ) I tend to wrap everything up in a nice little bow. I wouldn't really say they have epilogues. They simply end with everything resolved, and most often have a HEA ending. ( happily ever after )
I actually do epilogues ( often full chapters ) for my longer fantasy work. Wrap up everything, revisit with characters and places from the story to show how everything turned out. That kind of thing. If I know there's going to be another story coming, or it's a history story leading toward something already written, I typically give at least a mild tease of things to come.
Cliffhangers are for ( in all the various degrees, from mild "so, let's go do this" right up to genuine dangling from your fingertips ) the end of chapters, not the end of stories.
As often as not, in this pen name, I leave everything at a HFN ending ( happily for now ) The stories aren't that deep, and are really only vehicles for a sex scene. There's resolution to whatever conflict I established, but I always have at least some little threads that could be pulled on if I choose to write a sequel. Nothing that screams for a follow-up, but enough to entice people to want more.
In deeper stories for my other pen names, ( some of which are here, but we can only have one pen name here ) I tend to wrap everything up in a nice little bow. I wouldn't really say they have epilogues. They simply end with everything resolved, and most often have a HEA ending. ( happily ever after )
I actually do epilogues ( often full chapters ) for my longer fantasy work. Wrap up everything, revisit with characters and places from the story to show how everything turned out. That kind of thing. If I know there's going to be another story coming, or it's a history story leading toward something already written, I typically give at least a mild tease of things to come.
Cliffhangers are for ( in all the various degrees, from mild "so, let's go do this" right up to genuine dangling from your fingertips ) the end of chapters, not the end of stories.
Good Will ---|--- Got Me Pegged <= Both almost famous, give them a read and get them one step closer!
Quote by RejectReality
It depends upon the story.
As often as not, in this pen name, I leave everything at a HFN ending ( happily for now ) The stories aren't that deep, and are really only vehicles for a sex scene. There's resolution to whatever conflict I established, but I always have at least some little threads that could be pulled on if I choose to write a sequel. Nothing that screams for a follow-up, but enough to entice people to want more.
In deeper stories for my other pen names, ( some of which are here, but we can only have one pen name here ) I tend to wrap everything up in a nice little bow. I wouldn't really say they have epilogues. They simply end with everything resolved, and most often have a HEA ending. ( happily ever after )
I actually do epilogues ( often full chapters ) for my longer fantasy work. Wrap up everything, revisit with characters and places from the story to show how everything turned out. That kind of thing. If I know there's going to be another story coming, or it's a history story leading toward something already written, I typically give at least a mild tease of things to come.
Cliffhangers are for ( in all the various degrees, from mild "so, let's go do this" right up to genuine dangling from your fingertips ) the end of chapters, not the end of stories.
Thank you, I actually got the title wrong and have changed it. I really should not be writing anything at the moment
Yes, I can dig what you are saying and 99% of the time, I completely agree.. I have an early draft of a final chapter and I am stuck between the two. I have written an epilogue for it, I've slept on it, took the epilogue off and read it, put it back on and read it. I'm stuck.
Rainbow Warrior
Unless I'm planning to continue a story as a series, I usually wrap things up with a satisfying conclusion without resorting to an epilogue, although I have occasionally used what might be termed an epilogue, when it seemed a better way to finalize the story. I'm not a believer in hard and fast rules when writing.
Writius Eroticus
Quote by RejectReality
Cliffhangers are for... the end of chapters, not the end of stories.
Drat, knew I was doing something wrong. Ambiguous/open endings probably explain my low readership levels. That or I'm just an average storyteller.
Note to self: try adding exposition to the ending of the next story to see if it helps.
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Testing The Waters.
If you have absolutely no intention of writing about these characters again, I'd lean toward epilogue. That will reduce ( but not eliminate ) the people asking for sequels, and tend to temper the expectations of those who do ask.
That being said, only you can tell if the epilogue wraps up the story in a nice little bow, or feels like you're trying to condense what could be another entire story into a bit of exposition, or perhaps even steals some of the impact of the story sans the epilogue.
That being said, only you can tell if the epilogue wraps up the story in a nice little bow, or feels like you're trying to condense what could be another entire story into a bit of exposition, or perhaps even steals some of the impact of the story sans the epilogue.
Quote by TheTravellingMan
Thank you, I actually got the title wrong and have changed it. I really should not writing anything at the moment
Yes, I can dig what you are saying and 99% of the time, I completely agree.. I have an early draft of a final chapter and I am stuck between the two. I have written an epilogue for it, I've slept on it, took the epilogue off and read it, put it back on and read it. I'm stuck.
Good Will ---|--- Got Me Pegged <= Both almost famous, give them a read and get them one step closer!
Testing The Waters.
5/6 RR or EP, multiple contest placings...
Those RRs and EPs are coming from people who read oodles and oodles of stories very carefully. Getting an RR means you stood out as exceptional. Getting that EP means you blew ( a lot of ) them away. Getting them on damn near everything you post...
Ya know, I don't think I'd change anything if I were you. LOL What you enjoy writing is obviously working out just fine and dandy.
Those RRs and EPs are coming from people who read oodles and oodles of stories very carefully. Getting an RR means you stood out as exceptional. Getting that EP means you blew ( a lot of ) them away. Getting them on damn near everything you post...
Ya know, I don't think I'd change anything if I were you. LOL What you enjoy writing is obviously working out just fine and dandy.
Quote by WannabeWordsmith
Drat, knew I was doing something wrong. Ambiguous/open endings probably explain my low readership levels. That or I'm just an average storyteller.
Note to self: try adding exposition to the ending of the next story to see if it helps.
Good Will ---|--- Got Me Pegged <= Both almost famous, give them a read and get them one step closer!
Quote by TheTravellingMan
How would you prefer to leave a story:
A 'happy for now' conclusion but without revealing what happened to the characters;
Or an epilogue that provides some finality, even if it is not a happy ending?
As a reader I don't care for clean conclusions. I want it to come close enough, but leave things open for me to explore the possibilities in my head. Concluding it nicely is spoon-feeding. But happy for now conclusions are a metric shit-ton better than epilogues, which almost always kill my imagination* dead. Epilogues should be held to a naked flame until charred.
*A Handmaid's Tale is an exception.
Quote by fuzzyblue
As a reader I don't care for clean conclusions. I want it to come close enough, but leave things open for me to explore the possibilities in my head. Concluding it nicely is spoon-feeding. But happy for now conclusions are a metric shit-ton better than epilogues, which almost always kill my imagination* dead. Epilogues should be held to a naked flame until charred.
*A Handmaid's Tale is an exception.
Hi Fuzzy,
Yes, I have definitely gone cold on the idea too, thank you for your bold no-BS answer too... very much appreciated.
I tend to leave things where they are without resorting to epilogues. First off, the story generally feels "finished" at that point. Anything further can be left to readers' imaginations. Also, it leaves me open to revisit the story later without being straitjacketed by what I put in the epilogue. I mean, had I ended "April's Secret" with some kind of epilogue, it might have constrained what I could have put in "April's New Friends" and "Christmas in April" when I revisited the characters later (those stories weren't planned at the time I wrote the original) not to mention their cameos in "Wedding Night Blues".
Active Ink Slinger
Think it depends. Stories just develop sometimes the ideas continue after I have finished the first story. I have a number of sequels half written but if I don’t feel it helps then they stay half drafted.
Advanced Wordsmith
I have no hard and fast rules on the endings although 50% of the time I tend to leave them open.
"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance that principle is contempt prior to investigation."
Herbert Spencer
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