Saturday, November 8: Mississippi Mud
A 360-DEGREE STORY ARC
by John M. Floyd
Much has been said recently about the endings of short stories and novels. The fact that they should they should be satisfying, should happen quickly after the point of highest tension, should be surprising, etc. I especially like a quote by Aristotle: “Endings should be both inevitable and unexpected.”
Here are two other techniques that can help to ensure that your story’s conclusion is a good one:
- (1) the “circular” ending, where the story goes full circle and ends at the same physical location where it began (or with similar circumstances), and
(2) the “repetition” ending, when something happens or is said at the end that reminds the reader — or the viewer, in the case of a film — of an action or a line of dialogue used earlier in the story (not necessarily in the opening).
Why do those work? I suspect it has something to do with creating a sense of order and fulfillment, something that makes the ending — and even the entire story, when remembered afterward — resonate and seem familiar and “comfortable” in the mind of the reader.
Anyhow, here are some examples of a circular ending:
NOTE #1: I’ve used well-known movies to illustrate these techniques, but twelve of the following titles were adapted from novels and two from short stories.
NOTE #2: Spoilers may occur beyond this point.
THE WIZARD OF OZ: At both the beginning and the end, Dorothy is at home on the farm with her friends and family.
SHANE: We first see little Joe Starrett watching Shane riding toward him, out of nowhere. We last see him watching Shane ride away and out of his life.
PULP FICTION: The story begins and ends at the same L.A. restaurant.
THE NATURAL: In an opening scene Roy Hobbs is playing baseball with his father. In the closing scene Roy’s playing baseball with his own son.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: The story opens at the Finch home, and closes there as well.
OLD YELLER: At the first of the story, Old Yeller steals a slab of meat and is scolded for it. At the end, Yeller’s pup does the same.
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK: The opening and closing scenes are of Liberty Island.
THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY: It begins and ends with pilot Dan Roman standing on the tarmac beneath the wing of his aircraft.
SIGNS: The story opens outside Graham Hess’s bathroom as he brushes his teeth, and ends in the same place, as he dresses to go to church.
THE SEARCHERS: The story begins and ends with a shot of Monument Valley through the open door of a cabin.
FORREST GUMP: During both the opening and closing credits, a white feather is floating on the breeze.
HIGH NOON: It begins and ends with Will Kane and his new wife hand-in-hand, and the whole town watching them.
The other practice is what I’m calling the repetition ending. Examples might be actions that echo something mentioned or occurring earlier in the course of the story, as follows:
DIE HARD: At the end, the policeman who said he’d never again be able to fire his gun at someone winds up doing just that, to save the hero and his wife.
PRETTY WOMAN: The millionaire “rescues” the damsel in distress from the castle tower (actually an L.A. apartment building’s fire escape).
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING: In the ending narration, Lucy says her new husband took her to Florence, a city she had earlier said she’d always wanted to see.
THE LAST SUNSET: After O’Malley’s death, his true love receives a bouquet of primroses, which he’d earlier told her he’d give to her.
Usually, though, the repetition is a line of dialogue at the end that was also used (at least once) earlier in the story:
COOL HAND LUKE: “What we have here . . . is failure to communicate.”
CASABLANCA: “Here’s looking at you, kid.”
DIRTY HARRY: “You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’”
LOVE STORY: “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE: “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.”
GHOST: “Ditto.”
JERRY MAGUIRE: “You complete me.”
THE RIGHT STUFF: “And . . . Gordo Cooper became the finest pilot anyone had ever seen.”
MAGNUM FORCE: “A man’s got to know his limitations.”
DEAD POETS SOCIETY: “O Captain, my Captain.”
MEDICINE MAN: “Take off your shirt.”
THE CIDER HOUSE RULES: “Goodnight, you princes of Maine, you kings of New England.”
There are a couple more things I should mention. First, ending with a line of repeated dialogue seems especially effective in short stories, and can sometimes be used as a way to wrap up a story that is otherwise difficult to end in a satisfactory way. During revision, I have occasionally gone back into a story and “planted” a line of dialogue early on, so I can then use that line again at the end.
Second point: I’m not saying that these techniques should ever be a substitute for a good storyline and a logical conclusion, and they certainly shouldn’t be done in a way that seems contrived or trite. (I’m reminded of the way Sgt. Joe Friday used to stand there looking constipated, snapping off his little one-liners that ended almost every scene in Dragnet.) But when done well, they can not only rescue a weak ending but enhance an already good one.
At the very least, knowledge of this kind of thing is another handy item to store in your writer’s toolbox.
And since my lists were short, I welcome any other examples.
This observation made my insomnia worthwhile. Thanks.
The other practice is what I’m calling the repetition ending.
How much of this is actual repetition, and how much is simply foreshadowing? Remember Chekhov’s gun: “If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired.”
I think it’s certainly foreshadowing. In fact I think most of the things that occur in a story that make later action believable or effective is foreshadowing. And a lot of that IS repetition. What’s always fascinating to me is that the best authors seem to lay that kind of groundwork with no apparent effort.
Never thought about any of this before. Got thinking about two stories AHMM has in inventory and one ends with the protagonist drinking coffee in the diner where he drank coffee in the first scene. The other ends with a quote that also appeared near the beginning.
So, although unwittingly, I was following your advice, John. Strange how minds work and how some things seem to come naturally. Or do they?
Thanks, John, I hadn’t really really paid attention to the endings of the movies you listed that I’d seen. And I’ll pay even closer attention to the story endings from now on!
Dick and Jeff — I think it actually makes sense that we often don’t “notice” this kind of thing when we encounter it while reading (or viewing) a story, even though it might be present. I think instead we probably notice it subconsciously, and that it adds to our enjoyment without our realizing it. When you it happens as you WRITE a story, and if it happens without conscious effort, that can be good as well, because it means use of that kind of technique has become almost second-nature to you.