About The End

Post 7:

            I rather enjoy watching or listening to other people reviewing books or movies, short stories, whatever. They always talk about the tone or the plot or the characters. At times the endings don’t get mentioned. This used to baffle and beguile me. Now I think I get it.

            The best reviewers know that there are basic rules that any story has to follow. Basic is the key word here. Every now and again, someone pulls off a nontraditional narrative in a brilliant way and then you’re sat there saying, “oh, well, unless that.”

            I’ll go into my thoughts on what makes a proper story some other time, whatever that might be worth. Right now I want to get back to harping on endings.

            They suck. Pretty much across the board. I have a few examples from the last 6000 years of storytelling that prove me wrong, but in my opinion, endings suck. Here’s why: if the story stinks, there’s no rescuing it. Good luck putting a perfect finishing touch on that turd. On the other hand, if it’s really humming along, your audience is probably really into it. Can you button it up so they walk away as satisfied as when they were thick in the midst of the drama or suspense or whatever you were going for?

            Doubtful. This is a borderline catch-22 situation. If it’s going bad, it’s going to end bad. If it’s going good, even a good ending is bad. Because who wants something good to be over? Off the top of my head, nobody. And I’m accounting for the obvious need to move on to other things once you put the book down for the last time or once you walk out of the theater. Just saying. That was an awesome story. And now it’s over. Back to life… dammit.

            Endings suck. I will share some examples of good endings later on, but like I said, they are few and far between. Also, I’m trying to transfer this theory of endings into the realm of real life. Pretty sure the attempt won’t end well.

            To be continued… See you after.