For a good ending, you need to go in knowing *what* story do you want to tell?

What events are you telling about? Every story has a plot, a series of events that happens that are logically related. What story do you want to tell?

Let's say you're telling the story of someone leaving their wife.

Your story would start with the conflict between the husband/wife, and the entire story would end when he leaves his wife, because that's what you've set out to tell us. Why, how, when, and what was it like when this guy left his wife?

And now that we have read about everything that was involved with leaving his wife, once he leaves her, it's through. You've done what you've set out to do. You've told us about him leaving his wife.

And the story is over. Now if he meets a pretty girl afterwards, or never marries again, or goes on some wild adventure, that's *ANOTHER STORY*.

This is a story about him leaving his wife. *That's it*. Finito. That's all we started reading for.

Decide *what* you're telling us before you ever get to writing.

Now you do need to go in knowing where the plot itself ends otherwise you'll meander through the entire thing aimlessly waiting for a good ending to hit you. OR you'll write until you run out of steam with the story when your ending might have been five pages back.

So know before you ever put the pen to the paper what it is that you want to tell the reader.

As for developing an ending, and what makes a good ending, that depends on the events in the story.

You don't really need to develop an ending. Just know where it ends.

Go re-read your favorite books and tell me what they're about? Where do they end?

For example a book we all know and love: Ender's Game...(I use this book as an example for everything, so don't mind me...)

*What's Ender's Game about?*

It's about how Ender got into Battle School, suceeded very highly, and beat the Buggers.

*Where does Ender's game end?*

When Ender has beaten the Buggers. Now, Card gives us a little bit more, because he is letting us know what happens to the character we've gotten so close to. But notice where it really seems to end? Once Ender's beaten the Buggers. And what was the story about?

You get my point.

See? OSC knew what story he wanted to tell, and he told us. Given, he gave us a little bit of Speaker for the Dead in Ender's Game, but that was for the sake of the sequel. But OSC got us from point A to point B and did it VERY admirably.

For short stories, go read the Ender's Game short story that's on here. Ask yourself, what is that story about? Where does it end?

Go read a lot of things and ask yourself those two questions.

-Meg

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"I'll lay it out for them--I'll draw 'em a Monopoly board if I have to."
"I'd like to see them get from Park Place to GO."
- Ben Stone and Adam Schiff
"Serpent's Tooth"
Law & Order

I usually write "Puzzle-stories." I find some weird scientific fact or whatever, think of some way to torture a few characters with it. When they figure out what's going on and how to deal with it, that's the end.

The Buggers were dead. But had planned things out so that Ender, who slew them, would end up bringing them back as well. So he would be redeemed.

To be honest, the end of Ender's Game, I kind of assumed he woke up the Bugger Queen on that planet and that's when they began living again. It was only in Speaker for the Dead that I learned otherwise, that he was seeking the *right* planet in which to place the Queen.

Ender's Game was not about Battle School. It was not about the war against the Buggers. It was a story about a little boy who did some horrible things to survive. And in the end managed to find himself.

If Ender had remained on Earth, in the end, he and Peter would have come into conflict. And Ender would have possibly become *worse* than Peter, become another Attilla, another Napolean. Especially as his teammates all believed in him and *would* have worked with him. Except maybe Bean, but I've not read Bean's story, other than bits here and there.

For Ender stopped believing in himself after he killed all the Buggers. In anger and revenge against the "teachers", he destroyed a planet. And then found out that it was for real, not just a scenario to be played out.

In his eyes, he became a monster.

And then... he found the Bugger Queen. And was able to commune with her. And was able (with Valentine's help), to heal. Which is why he became Speaker for the Dead, so that he could help *others* heal. As well as look for a home for the Bugger Queen.

Of course, this is my interpretation of this story. If Mr. Card were to reply, he might say that the ending was done that way for a totally different reason.

I disagree with some points Tangent made about Ender's Game. The point of the story was that Ender did not know he was doing horrible things to survive. He was told that he was playing games, and he believed what he was told. Ender had great powers of strategy and leadership, and the lies tricked him into using his powers to destroy the Buggers.