My apologies for missing not one, but two posts last week! Unexpected things that needed to be taken care of.
One thing that bugs me about a lot of series is the lack of endings. Endings are very satisfying, that which completes a story, and without a good one, you're left begging Fox for season two of Firefly for a couple of decades or more. I mean, you feel like there should be more, because it's incomplete. I like a good series myself, but when the series never ends, never really completes a season, and never has a good wrap-up point... well, unless you're writing Doctor Who, it bothers me. (Doctor Who should never end. Also, it does provide endings in the form of completing seasons, and ending companions, and Doctors.)
The alternative poor ending is the over-ending, like when you've watched a movie and you think it's over, and then there's another scene and it's clearly the ending, no wait there's more, and really now's the--nope, another scene.
It's a balancing act to write a good ending, in other words. Something that wraps up a story well, and caps it off. I'm fond of Branden Sanderson's Mistborn series ending, as did Madoka Magica (the anime). I guess the best way to perfect an ending is to practice, write a few, cut them down until they're better, and repeat. Also read a lot of good books that really nail the ending.
What stories have you read, watched, or played that got the ending right?
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| But is it the right end of the path? |
The alternative poor ending is the over-ending, like when you've watched a movie and you think it's over, and then there's another scene and it's clearly the ending, no wait there's more, and really now's the--nope, another scene.
It's a balancing act to write a good ending, in other words. Something that wraps up a story well, and caps it off. I'm fond of Branden Sanderson's Mistborn series ending, as did Madoka Magica (the anime). I guess the best way to perfect an ending is to practice, write a few, cut them down until they're better, and repeat. Also read a lot of good books that really nail the ending.
What stories have you read, watched, or played that got the ending right?
The first season of The Booth at the End. There was one season of it (only intended to be the one), but it was brought back for a second much later at peoples' request. It still ended well, but not as well.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Dr. Horrible. Again, no second season is needed.
And while it's part of a much larger and continuing world and the characters will undoubtedly show up again (some already have), the Kilo Five trilogy in the Haloverse is wonderful. Oo, and the Deeds of Paksenarrion. That was good and left me feeling satisfied. I bought it after attending a multi-author panel its author was in (I went for Brent Weeks) and am so happy I did.
Never saw the first, but yes, Dr. Horrible does it well! I'm going to have check out all the others, too. Nothing like a satisfying ending.
Deletenice
ReplyDelete