I am an a proponent of the happy ending. No, I’m talking about what comes after the massage, but the ending to the story. I’m the reason why so much of Hollywood is now predictable, we almost always know that no matter what the characters go through, it will all work out in the end.

So, what then makes the perfect ending? We know that endings don’t have to end happy… hello Romeo and Juliet… But is that what most people want? I think what most people want is an ending that is not so predictable. Coming up with an original idea for ending is difficult and I think the surprise for the ending is something you build throughout the story.

I am unintentionally writing an unsuspecting ending to my current story. I say unintentional because the story is no longer ending how it was meant to end when I started writing. Through a couple moments of creative liberty, I accidentally made my ending an impossible one. The ending I was now stuck with was one that did not make me and I did not think it would make the readers happy. I saw my ending as a lose-lose-lose. Not good for me, the readers, or the characters. 

I wanted a new ending, one that wrapped up the storyline to a natural conclusion, and yet continues on ever so slightly becoming a win-win for my main characters.  When I finally figured out what the ending would be, I was astounded that I hadn’t considered it before. 

I think the best way to create a surprising ending is to decide what the expected ending would be and then go away from it. I wouldn’t completely ditch the expected ending, I would expand on it and change it so that it becomes something original. We all know how the boy meets girl story ends… they fall in love and live happily ever after. In Romeo and Juilet the boy and girl do end up together, but the twist is they both die. 

Tell me some of your favorite endings. I love the ending to the movie “Just Like Heaven”. You think that all is lost, and yet it works out. Sure I hoped the entire time that I would, but there was a chance that it wouldn’t and it just made me happy to see them together.

Thanks for reading, and have a good week!