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Q&A How common *are* happy endings?

Simply the best ending: And they lived happily ever after, at least until she died of cancer, their children got crushed by a train, and the bombs at last fell in WWIII. Seriously though, I t...

posted 13y ago by Evil Spork‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T01:14:31Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/1690
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Evil Spork‭ · 2019-12-08T01:14:31Z (almost 5 years ago)
Simply the best ending:

> And they lived happily ever after, at least until she died of cancer, their children got crushed by a train, and the bombs at last fell in WWIII.

Seriously though, I think a satisfying ending is better than a good ending. A lot of writers leave off on a cliffhanger, or leave many threads of the story unfinished. Unless you are highly prolific and truly are going to finish the story, tie up the story arcs.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2011-02-20T05:46:04Z (over 13 years ago)
Original score: 1