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Q&A Writing a Satisfying Ending

The hero fought the good fight, as best they could, and that fight is done. To me, for happy or sad endings (of a book or character within a book), and assuming the rest of the book makes the read...

posted 6y ago by Amadeus‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-19T22:13:27Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/36874
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T09:05:52Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/36874
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T09:05:52Z (almost 5 years ago)
### The hero fought the good fight, as best they could, and that fight is done.

To me, for happy or sad endings (of a book or character within a book), and assuming the rest of the book makes the reader love the characters, this is a satisfying ending.

I would add, they didn't win/lose because of dumb luck, including the dumb luck of confronting a stupid antagonist.

This applies to standalone novels, or those with a sequel: The main fight in THIS novel is done, loose ends are tied, the hero succeeded or failed and the consequences are **realized** and permanent.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-06-12T16:09:14Z (over 6 years ago)
Original score: 3