April 18, 2022
Multiple Endings: a How-to Guide
Remember my post on narrative endings? I there argued that narrative endings and physical endings are not necessarily one and the same. In reality, there are more than one ways to end a novel. And having multiple endings is a great way to increase the affective impact of your narrative.
So, what do we I mean by “multiple endings”? Let’s start by what I don’t mean: A Clue-like style set of actual different endings (in the form of, say, different chapters). I’m not interested in that, and though I wouldn’t want to deter anyone from trying different things, I’m not entirely sure whether it’d work.
What I mean by multiple endings in a narrative is the presence of interpretatively more than one alternatives; open-endedness; allowing the possibility that things aren’t quite what they seem. Think of the ending of Inception, with the spinning top, and you’d have a simple, masterful example of how a single, mundane object can throw the entire narrative in disarray.
So let’s take a look at multiple endings: what’s their effect, how to gauge whether you need them, and how it all comes together.
What Is the Effect of Multiple Endings?
Having a narrative with numerous interpretative possibilities adds depth, realism, uniqueness, and complexity. Whether these are good things or not is something we’ll come back to in a moment. Generally speaking, however, the usual problem is having a narrative that is too linear, too simplistic, and too plot-based.
Introducing multiple narrative possibilities in the form of multiple possible endings has a similar effect as employing concepts, using defamiliarization, and implementing poetic license have: They improve symbolism, which results in more memorable narratives.
Ultimately, having an open-ended conclusion means leaving the reader with a certain ambiguity and uncertainty. In literary fiction, experimental fiction, and even the Gothic, this is definitely a plus.
But is it always a plus?
Do You Need Multiple Endings?
Remember my post on realistic characters? I there said that realistic characters might not necessarily be something your narrative needs, if you write genre fiction, such as fantasy.
Having characters that are very realistic makes for a more interesting narrative, to be sure. However, it also signals a departure from generic expectations. In simpler terms, your intended audience will have a harder time relating to your novel.
Similarly with multiple endings, if your narrative becomes too complex, too deep, too unique – too realistic? – then your audience might have a harder time “resolving” it. Of course, whether you should care about this or not depends entirely on what you prioritize, art or sales.
I leave the discovery of that (undeniably elusive) balance to you, and instead I’ll offer you a simple, short guide on how to introduce multiple endings in your own novel.
How to Introduce Multiple Endings: a Short Guide
The first thing to remember when it comes to introducing multiple endings is this: less is more. The more subtle the effect and the more restrained you are, the better the result will be.
Why?
But because the less you overexplain and offer the reader ready interpretations, the more they’ll be able to provide their own.
The specifics will vary depending on many things; to name a few: the genre, the plot specifics, and the possibilities your character’s roles offer. Most importantly, the specifics will depend on your aims: What do you want to achieve (interpretatively speaking) with offering multiple endings?
A Checklist for Flexible Interpretations
So, with these in mind, consider the following list.
- Theoretical Considerations
- What kind of emotions, thoughts, and states of mind do you want your audience to be left with finishing the novel?
- To favor conflict, ambiguity, disruption, the various possibilities you will offer should be, in some way, contradicting. Whereas possibility X might mean a “happy ending”, possibility Y must allow for a dark shadow, something negative.
- Sometimes ambiguity doesn’t need contradiction. An open-ended set of possibilities can still be ambiguous if all of its elements point in similar directions.
- Practical Considerations
- Don’t forget narrative inevitability and, overall, narrative journeys. All multiple endings must still be sense-making, plausible, and consistent with the narrative preceding them.
- This means, make sure to introduce throughout the narrative elements necessary for all the endings you plan.
- There are many ways to have multiple endings, including:
- symbolic meaning hidden under literal meaning: In Dracula, it all looks good and nice and jolly at the end, except if we noticed the symbolism behind Mina Harker’s child.
- premature “cuts” (conclusions) and open-endedness: This is the Inception example I referred to earlier.
- disruptive details and open-endedness: Think of The Shining and the old picture including Jack Torrance. Disruptive, not quite sense-making, forces you to reconsider the entire narrative.
- scenes outside the expected flow of the narrative: In Strella, after a dark, harrowing narrative, culminating in a cathartic exchange between the two main characters, there is a long scene with the protagonist walking alone at night, music in the background; she walks away from the camera, fade out… and no, the movie doesn’t quite end there. Or does it? That depends on which ending you prefer.
It’s About Interpretative Options
Remember the post about authors’ responsibilities? The general conclusion there was that, to the extent an author has any social responsibilities, these revolve around offering the audience a narrative that is interpretatively fluid. Offering multiple endings definitely serves that purpose. But there is an additional element worth noting.
A narrative ending is, quite by definition, the last impression a reader is left with.
As a result, having multiple narrative endings has a double effect:
- It makes your narrative more memorable, because it forces the reader to keep thinking about it after they’ve finished reading.
- It increases the likelihood that they’ll be talking about it with friends, online connections, and so on.
As you can perhaps realize, this latter element is directly connected with authorial responsibilities and creating ripples. To put it simply, if you want people talking about your novel, the best thing you can do (provided everything else is solid) is to offer interpretatively flexible endings.
5 Comments
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In a complex tale it happens organically.
With every thread interlaced with the rest, there are always multiple sub-resolutions, different character arc endings, things left partly unfinished – by default. I don’t plot FOR it – it happens.
I hope it makes it memorable, and with a trilogy, there are lines that continue, and lines that get knotted off, all along. I see them, I take advantage of them.
It would be an unbelievable mess if you tried to make everything come out at the same climax and ending.
You’re making an excellent point when you say that it happens organically in a complex tale – I’d only add as a minor comment, that the complexity must also be organic (I’ve seen a lot of artificially complex narratives that are incoherent; then we have a case of no or little meaning, rather than multiple meanings).
Of course, even then one would argue that meaning is a 2-way street and a reader can sort of come up with meanings in an otherwise incoherent narrative – after all, meaning is not the author’s prerogative. Still, pragmatically speaking, if as a reader (indeed, as a reader-writer) I have to supply virtually all of the direction, I’m more inclined to just trash the whole thing.
Parenthetically, in regard to your last sentence, you’d be surprised at how many such messy “resolutions” I see. I think people, for whatever sociocultural and perhaps psychological reasons that are beyond the scope of this comment, seek in fiction resolutions that are simply not viable/organic in reality. They want neat conclusions to everything – perhaps in an innate need to have everything explained concurrently. That’s simply not the way life works, and when forced in a narrative, then – as you said – it’s quite a mess.
I believe in a rough division of about 50/50 between author and reader – readers have so much good and interesting information in their heads. That said, my part has to be clear. If I create a mess, readers have no obligation to straighten it out.
Complexity comes from characters and the situations they end up in, courtesy of the writers. If it’s forced, the readers can tell – I can.
That said, there are readers for all different kinds and levels of stories, from highly extroverted action/adventure tales to introverted literary ones, and most readers know what they like.
I particularly enjoy reviewers who say that they don’t read my kind of book, but… and then go on to say they liked it. But it’s usually from reviewers I approached because I saw complexity in their reviews or in the books they listed as favorites.
Minimalistic scenes can be such open-ended endings. The less is shown, if it still retains some link to the preceding narrative, be it symbolic or otherwise, it just sparks the imagination. That’s why trailers and teasers are so much more powerful, sometimes, than the actual film. The fragmentary nature makes the interplay between scenes, speeches, music all that more impactful and enticing for the imagination.
True, I absolutely agree. Alas, we live in the era of explaining everything and making sure the audience gets it. Worse, we’re conditioned to think that’s normal, the point of reference.