So You Hate the Ending

What to do when the author doesn't land the plane.

Reading is a deeply hopeful practice. At the beginning of a novel, the possibilities are endless. The author has the power to lead us in any direction. We close our eyes and hold their hands. We pray they don’t f*ck it up, but more than that, we wonder what if? What if this ending transforms us (in some small or large way)?

Endings are hard. So many incredible stories have been weakened by their last 25 to 50 pages. It’s hard to deliver on the spoken and unspoken promises you’ve laid out in those first breaths of a novel—and yet, writers try! Oh boy, do we.