Should individual webserial books have proper endings?

[ThisAdamGuy]

[THIS POST HAS BEEN CONSUMED BY THE VOID]

 

[blackcrowcrowd]

Who cares? From my two top favorite novels, one of them doesn't have proper ending, and it doesn't even have a sequel iirc, and the other one does have a proper ending but it's so not that good.

 

[Deleted member 266]

Write it and find out.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

The story should build towards an ending but be stretched out as long as you can go without being repetitive or boring. Some webnovels get into the thousands of chapters before resolving. I plan to end one of mine somewhere around 150, and another is the first of a series and at 92 is at the end of the first arc of the first book. If I can keep going with it, it should go to about 150-200 with the follow-up books a little shorter but not much.
One ended the first arc in the 40s and I have just barely started the second of three planned (but it also could be very open ended and have a lot of side stories and things that don't work towards a single story resolution).
Another should be five books with 20-30 chapters each.
And one is a series of short stories that are snippets of the lives of two characters (father and child). Each snippet should be about 15 chapters long and there should be about five for each (one "snippet" is complete)

 

[Eldoria]

What is a 'proper ending'? There are many types of endings: happy ending, bittersweet ending, tragic ending, and even cliffhanger ending. If your story answers the main conflict, no matter what type of ending it is, I think it's a proper ending.

 

[Macha]

What is a 'proper ending'? There are many types of endings: happy ending, bittersweet ending, tragic ending, and even cliffhanger ending. If your story answers the main conflict, no matter what type of ending it is, I think it's a proper ending.

Anything that isn't 'it's all a dream' kind of ending.

 

[Eldoria]

Anything that isn't 'it's all a dream' kind of ending.

 

[Zinless]

It should end the way you want it to end. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[whitesculptor]

Everything must come to an end.

 

[ThisAdamGuy]

Okay, can we please stick to helpful, on topic answers? No more of this pretentious look-how-deep-I-am "Who cares? What even is an ending? Everything must come to an end!" junk.

 

[Eldoria]

Okay, can we please stick to helpful, on topic answers? No more of this pretentious look-how-deep-I-am "Who cares? What even is an ending? Everything must come to an end!" junk.

Sorry, I meant no harm. It's just that I still don't understand what a "proper ending" is. I've tried to answer your question. As long as your story resolves the main conflict, it's a proper ending. For me, a proper ending means the conflict is resolved, at least in the main arc of the book.

I still remember a certain horror zombie story that gave a cliffhanger ending because at the end of the movie, a zombie escaped extermination, and that meant the story continued even after the movie ended.

 

[Zinless]

Okay, can we please stick to helpful, on topic answers? No more of this pretentious look-how-deep-I-am "Who cares? What even is an ending? Everything must come to an end!" junk.

I mean what I said. You should end the story the way you want it to end.

But to answer your question directly, there will be people who care a lot about how you end your book. They are your readers, after all. Whether you end it on a cliffhanger, leave it open-ended, or close it out entirely, there is always something to praise/complain about from many sides. It all depends on your situation and preference.

For example, your first idea of a "complete" ending will take a while to resolve and take too long. I'm actually tackling that issue too, with my current solution being: "Welp. Long story it is." Though, I am trying to pick up the pace and not stay idle in a beat for too long.

In another case, you have a climax that would end in a major cliffhanger. I personally think that's fine as an ending, maybe even great. If the climax is satisfying enough, it would end the first book well enough on its own, cliffhanger or not.

 

[Paul__Michaels]

I mean if you're serializing a story, each Volume should have its conflict that has a resolution at the end of each Volume, but each resolution should build toward the bigger goal of the overarching story. Pretty much you're creating arcs. I haven't finished the first arc yet and I'm in the middle of writing my eighth volume for my main story.
Oh yeah, I forgot to add. You should add a little teaser for the reader, on what the next conflict or obstacle will be for the MC.

 

[Ai-chan]

Unless you're doing a gag novel, it should always have a planned ending. Even slice of life novels would have an idea of an ending. Every story should have a structure. Not doing so would be considered a 'bad' novel. Whether you care or not the novel you wrote is considered 'bad' by other people is up to you. Even 8-Bit Theater that ran for 10 years and over 1000 pages had an actual storyline, though each plotpoint was greatly stretched with each page providing a joke. The story even had a proper ending that concluded everything instead of leaving a cliff.

So if you don't want to continue it anymore, Ai-chan suggests that you reread what you have written and think up the final 5-10 chapters that would tie up all plot holes. How many chapters you want to use to do this depends on the length of your chapters and how many plotholes you have. Nobody likes plotholes, and unresolved plotholes are even worse. Do it once, people will give you a pass. Do it twice people will just think you're a noob author. Do it thrice and people will not look your way anymore.

One of the reasons why Michael Bay is generally hated is due to his plotholes and his refusal to believe that he was wrong. Ai-chan guesses it's also probably the reason why he's no longer directing movies.

 

[ThisAdamGuy]

if you don't want to continue it anymore

Not what I said. Your whole reply is acting like I just want to abandon the story altogether.

 

[blackcrowcrowd]

Okay, can we please stick to helpful, on topic answers? No more of this pretentious look-how-deep-I-am "Who cares? What even is an ending? Everything must come to an end!" junk.

I meant what I said. It doesn't have to.

 

[Juia_Darkcrest]

Call it the end of arc 1 or book 1, then make a fun interlude chapter, then start on the next book

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

They need temporary endings that feel like a traditional falling action with a smidgen of resolution but not really to continue with the next arc.

 

[DireBadger]

As long as you tie up plot holes, it is an ending, at least to that story arc.
As long as you still have gaping plot holes, the story is not over.


The thing is, if you want to keep your story going, call a major plot hole resolution 'the end' but leave more for follow-ups. My own biggest problem with novelization is realizing when a book is 'over' and it's time to call the continuing novel a 'sequel'.