Friday Feedback: How Does it All End?!

Somehow -- impossibly -- we only have two more weeks of Teachers Write. 
I know, I know, I'm as sad as you are. Maybe sadder. 
Since we're getting near the end of camp, I thought maybe we should talk about how to write a good ending and then I thought, nobody better than my real life pal (and virtual bestie), Amy Fellner Dominy, author of OyMG 
and Audition & Subtraction (and many more to come!), 

someone I view as my personal plotting and story-arc guru, to talk to you about how. 

The great thing is, in reading Amy's offered post to prepare my post, I actually learned a ton. A TON!
So, it's long and I'm not cutting a word! 
Before I introduce you to Amy, please remember (as with all my guest authors) that she's spending a lot of time here today, so please check out her truly wonderful books, share them with your students, and help spread the word. 
Also, remember the RULES for Friday Feedback, or read them HERE. 
Okay, on that note, here is Amy. 

Thanks, Gae. And, hi, all! So, yes, let's talk endings! 
Great endings make you sigh, tear-up or smile. They make you sad for the book to be over, and they make you want to flip the pages and go back to the beginning and start again. 
Great endings are, simply put, satisfying.
If only they were simple to write! So, here are a few tips and suggestions that will hopefully help. I'll see you for feedback, in the comment section!

ANSWER THE QUESTION In a way, a story is really just a series of questions you create in the reader’s mind. What will happen next? What will she do? How will he get out of this? Where do they go from here?Think about books you love. There is nearly always one BIG question that keeps you turning pages.  This is the central problem, or the story problem.
Will Frodo destroy the ring?Will Katniss survive The Hunger Games?Will Wilbur the Pig avoid becoming bacon?
Think about your own story—what’s the central problem?  Your most important job at the end of your book is to make sure you answer that question.
Seems obvious, right? But it’s easy to wander off with other characters and plot turns and lose sight of the story you’re telling. 
(Gae chimes in to say: oh, yes, how I have wandered. In THE SUMMER OF LETTING GO (March, 2014), this was one of my editor's biggest issues with the manuscript. She felt I had hedged at the end, and she pushed me to really go back truly answer the story's central question! I'm so glad she did and I did. But, it really is easy to wander and avoid, and not even realize you did...)
In fact, when I start a new book, I tape the story problem above my computer screen because it keeps me focused as I write. In OyMG, it was this: Will Ellie win the scholarship & get into Benedicts?  One other point to mention:  The story problem is often an EXTERNAL conflict but you may also have an internal (emotional) conflict.  For Ellie, it was a matter of her faith and identity.  As the author, you want to resolve BOTH conflicts at the end. 
FOLLOW THE RAMEN RULE  Along with the STORY PROBLEM, you’ve probably got your readers wondering about a dozen other things. Will Aragorn become King? Does Katniss choose Peeta or Gale? What happens to Charlotte and her babies?  Resolve your sub-plots—make sure you haven’t left any unanswered questions (unless you’re doing it deliberately.) 
I call it the Ramen Rule because I once listened to a book where a lady brings a guy a hot meal. (Ramen noodles.) He’s touched by the gesture. A beautiful romantic moment blooms to life but do I care? NO. Because I’m thinking about the ramen noodles and how they’re getting cold. In fact, the guy NEVER EATS HIS DINNER! The author obviously forgot about the noodles—they were just a plot device.  But as the reader, I didn’t forget.  So tie up loose ends. 
(I love your "Ramen Rule," Amy! Before I was ever close to being published, I hired KL Going to critique a manuscript I wrote and she referred to this concept as sewing a quilt. The threads that start at the beginning of the quilt and weave their way through the middle, must come out the other side and be tied up at the end. That imagery has always helped me. Now I will balance a bowl of ramen noodles on my quilt for good measure!) 

BE TRUE TO YOUR CHARACTERS            Whatever happens at the end of your book, happy or tragic, funny or heart-breaking, make sure it’s believable.  I just read an early Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child. Jack did some insanely far-fetched stunts to save the country. I believed every one because he does that stuff.  But there was also a moment when he was broken-hearted over a lady FBI agent, as if he would have married her. Does that make Jack seem like a loving, sensitive guy? Yeah. But I didn’t buy it. That’s not the kind of man he is and the author didn’t convince me he’d changed. 
Don’t give us the ending you want or the ending you think we want: give us the ending earned by your character.
Another note on this: Perfectly happy endings are difficult to believe. Why? Because they so rarely happen in real life.  Not everyone gets everything they want without anyone paying the price. If you’ve written an ending that’s too good to be true, then readers will sense this and not feel satisfied.
KEEP SUSPENSE HIGH RIGHT UP TO THE END Don’t let the reader guess the outcome, if you can help it.  Right up until the very last second, failure and disaster should be possibilities.
AVOID BARN DOOR SYNDROME . If you’ve never heard of this, it’s because I just made it up. But it describes a common phenomenon. Because authors nearing the end of a book are often just like horses nearing the barn: We want to get there. FAST. So remember: Endings deserve the same amount of love and attention that we give to our beginnings.
WHEN IT’S OVER, IT’S OVER Once you’ve resolved the conflict, then give the reader a brief moment of happiness or calm or a sense of completion.  Then…THE END.  Don’t drag it out or tack on a new problem.  If you’re writing a series, you give that brief moment of calm and then drop a new shoe.  (Pet peeve: Series books that end in mid-conflict. That’s not an ending to me. That’s a chapter break.  Resolve the conflict. Then…create a new one for book 2.)
So, those are some tips for endings.  But really, the one single most important thing I can tell you is to get there.  Some way. Some how.  Reach the ending because it’s a truly amazing feat to complete a book, flaws and all.  And, only after you’ve finished, can you start revising.  J
Okay, so I guess it's my turn to share. Because I can’t share the end of my WIP titled A MATTER OF HEART, here’s a brief moment when my character has reached a different sort of an end. She's gotten some bad news that could really change her life for the worst.

If you'd like to share a similar "ending" in your WIP, please do! Or, of course, share whatever you want to share (as long as you follow Gae's rules)! Oh, and btw, I'm on Pacific time, so it may take me a few hours in the morning to get here. See you then!

* * * * *

I’m running into the dark into nothing and it’s exactly where it feels like my life is going.  Tears stream unchecked and I push harder with my legs, pump my arms, the sound of my sobs like an echo that follows me.  Prickly bushes catch and rip at my pants and a loose branch flies up and scrapes my arm.  It feels good, the pain. More pain.  Pain layered on pain, and I want to burn it all up on this trail. I want to go so fast I leave it all behind. I want to leave me behind and I want to fly to where the pain can’t reach me at all. 

- Amy & Gae