The hardest part of most books for me is the ending. I’m seldom entirely satisfied with the way my books end. Some of that is because I’m usually getting tired and eager to just get it over with by the time I get to writing the last couple of chapters, so I tend to rush through them. The first draft is often just at the level of “and then they beat the bad guys, the end” so that I can be done. And that’s if I even know what the ending is at all.

I used to have a bad habit of outlining up to a point, and then when I wasn’t sure how to end the story, I’d give up and start writing, with the idea that I’d figure it out by the time I got there. I usually didn’t, which meant I spent a lot of time rewriting once I did figure out an ending because I needed to set up the ending. Writing series makes it even harder because I need to decide how much to wrap up and how much to carry over to the next book.

When I do know the ending before I start writing, when that scene is clear, it’s so much easier to write the book and I do a lot less rewriting, so I’m forcing myself to work on the outline until I know the ending before I start writing. Or even figure out the ending before outlining the rest of the book. That’s where I am now with a book I’ve been developing. I had no idea where to end it, which made it nearly impossible to outline the rest of the story. Without knowing the end, I didn’t know the characters’ goals or what they would do to achieve them that would lead to that point. Earlier this week, I finally figured out an ending I love, so now I’m working to outline the rest of the book in a way that leads to that ending.

But what makes a good ending? I’ve been trying to think of my favorite endings, the ones that make me close a book with a sigh and a smile, maybe wiping away a few tears or else trying to get my heart rate under control. I’ve joked about the George Lucas ending, which has a 1-2-3 format — usually a big, cathartic moment (like blowing up the Death Star), then hugs (the reunion when Luke and Han make it back to the rebel base), then some kind of concluding moment (the medal ceremony). It’s not in all the movies, but it does seem to show up in the ones that end triumphantly.

There’s a popular romance writer who indulges in a bit of emotional manipulation. Her books leave you with a tear in your eye, which gives you the sense that this was a really good book that hit you emotionally. But once when I was reading one of her books on an airplane and had to put it in my bag before I got to the end, when I was at a point I otherwise wouldn’t have put the book down until it was done, I figured out her trick. Just before the romantic happy ending when the hero and heroine get over their issues and declare their love, there’s always something sad that happens — usually an older person dies, a kid gets sick/injured, an animal almost dies (but not dies because killing an animal in a romance novel can kill your career) — or else something good and emotional happens — the sick kid or animal miraculously recovers. This incident usually has very little to do with the main plot, aside from involving a character who’s been around during the book. This big, emotional scene means you have tears already in your eyes for that romantic ending and when you finish reading the book, which makes you feel like the book was great. When I had to stop reading just after that emotional part and didn’t pick the book up again until I got through the airport and made it to my destination, so the emotion was gone, the romantic happy ending hit differently and I had a much flatter impression of the book. Normally, you’d be close enough to the end that you were definitely going to read it straight through, but it didn’t work when I was forced to stop reading. I looked back at her other books and realized she did this all the time. I started thinking of it as the “throw the kid under a bus ending.” I don’t think I’m going to try that in my writing, but it’s an interesting idea to make sure readers end the book feeling really engaged with it.

I mostly want to feel like the main character has been transformed in some way or has achieved something. I want the villain and any other annoying characters to get some kind of comeuppance. For a series, I prefer to have at least something in the story wrapped up while enough is left hanging to make me want the next book right away. For a standalone book, I want that sense of “ah, this is just the way things are supposed to be.” But even while I like things wrapped up, I also like a sense that these characters will go on with their lives and do more stuff, even if I don’t get to see it. If my imagination has something to work with, the book is more likely to linger in my mind. I don’t want all the details about their future, so I’m not a fan of those romance epilogues in which the wedding happens or the baby is born. I’d rather imagine that for myself.

What kind of endings do you like?