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Multiple Endings
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Justin
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Jul 08, 2013 03:28PM
Have you ever read a book that had multiple endings? As if the author couldn't decide on just one or decided to give readers a choice of which ending they liked better? Just wanted some thoughts about it as I am considering doing this with a short story of mine.
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It would have to be very cleverly done for me. Otherwise, I might be annoyed. I ran into the same question with my WiP. It deals with reality vs perception and could have ended one of at least three ways. I wrote all three and picked the one that seemed most true.
Multiple endings sounds to me like a "choose your own adventure" book. It would be hard for me to take that strategy seriously. If your story is intended to be humorous, however, it could work very well.
I can't think of a book, but the film Clue did this. The ending varied according to where you saw it screened. When it shown on TV, all the different endings are generally shown (as in Wayne's World.)
No offense to the authors who do this, but it seems like such a cop-out, as if the author is afraid of failing to appease every single reader so he/she opts to cater to everyone.Frankly, I think this is a very amateurish thing to do but that's just me. I believe an author should stand behind his or her ending with resounding conviction, especially if it truly fits with the rest of the story, otherwise what does that say about his or her confidence in the tale being told?
It goes back to one of the quotes I love:
"You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time."
"The French Lieutenant's Woman" uses that device. Maybe you could check it, see if you find such endings to your taste or not.
I personally do not like the notion of multiple endings. Perhaps, one of the other ways of doing this would be to come up with an open ending that would both complete the story arc of the novel and leave some place for imagination as to where the events would end from there on
As a kid I loved novels with multiple endings. I would re-read the book over and over, choosing a different path each time. If you're intending to write a childrens story then it sounds like a good idea. I don't know about how it would be taken as an adult story. However, with writing I believe that you should write whatever you want to write. I'm sure there would be people interested in reading it.
I have read a book written that way once. It was different and I liked it. I wouldn't say that the author did not stand for his ending. It was more as if the writer had many ideas for the same characters. All along the story you had choices to make, which led to different paths. It was more like a MMORPG game that you actually read instead of playing. The only draw back, for me at least, was that each time I kept wondering, 'what if I had chosen the other path?'
So yeah, a bit distracting but interesting nonetheless. Would I read something similar again? Sure, why not. (If I'd find one. They are rather rare.)
A lot of good responses everyone. I don't think I'm going to do it, at least not for a book..no way. Maybe a short story but even so just seeing what everyone thinks about the idea of multiple endings
Justin wrote: "A lot of good responses everyone. I don't think I'm going to do it, at least not for a book..no way. Maybe a short story but even so just seeing what everyone thinks about the idea of multiple endings"Good call. Even Stephen King did not pull it off when he was wrapping up the 7th Dark Tower and saying: read this much but do not read beyond if you want a happy ending. Then of course you read beyond and the story took you to...not going to spoil it for those who have not read it yet (not even with spoiler tag as I usually read those as well:))
Also anothe reason I asked is because I read a few stories and didn't like the endings and I even wrote a few stories myself and thought maybe it could have ended better. So I was curious about thoughts on multiple endings. Like I said I think maybe in certain cases but it really shouldn't be done a lot. You don't wanna be known for multiple endings that makes you look indecisive and unsure in your own work.
The one thing I can say for myself is that, as a reader, for the third act and the ending itself is the make or break part of the story. Because my mind has now veered towards the Stephen King books, I will bring one example: Tommyknockers, for me, was one of the toughest reads by King and it was just a page by page torture that got no better as I went on and on and on and then you had the third act and...the ending - one of the best endings I have ever read - immediately casting Bruce Willis as Gard in my mind's film interpretation...Concerning the endings in general - if I as an author cannot stand by my conclusion and my story's ending then why tell the story at all? We, the authors are in the ages old business of telling stories and stories end and unless you are going to continue telling that story next night you better wrap it up nicely or at least do the utmost not to leave your reader - the person for whom your story is - frustrated.
Yzabel wrote: ""The French Lieutenant's Woman" uses that device. Maybe you could check it, see if you find such endings to your taste or not."aHi Yzabel,
I was just thinking of The French Lietenant's Woman myself and all the metafictional asides from the narrator. I thought it was so cool the way they handled the two endings in the movie and that the actors talked about which ending to use. I loved the movie and hated the fact that it lost out to Chariots of Fire--just no comparison (except for the COF music, which was fantastic).
