Now, there are many many times that I get razzied by my readers for not having all of my stories wrapped up with a pretty little bow where they’re all finished and done with and folks can read them and then roll over and go to sleep without saying anything or even clicking a ‘like’ button. Hehehe! I’m always writing on all of them as quickly and as often as is humanly possible, and always try to put forth my best effort each and every single time. No shortcuts. I’d rather not release the story at all if it isn’t going to be a sincere struggle to complete it and have it be something special. You know?

BUT...when I do finish off a short story, or even a longer one, and I give them what they want...hehehe, it’s like I’m still in the wrong. I just can’t win. “More, more, more! What happens next? Can’t you just add a few more chapters?” Ummm...no. The story is finished. It’s done. I said what I had to say, and I brought the plot to a close. Period. Don’t ask for any more...that’s the story. If the story was about a teen coming out to his parents and that was the point of it all...then him coming out to his parents will accomplish that mission and finish the thought. To go much further than that would mean having to come up with new conflicts and drama and a host of other challenges that will ultimately detract from the impact of what I was hoping to do with the story in the first place. That would be a bad thing in my opinion. So let’s put this baby to bed before it wears out its welcome, right?

And this is where I might be much more likely to use the method of an ambiguous ending to achieve my goal. In this context, it’s basically my way as a writer to tell my audience, “The rest is left up to your imagination.” Done.

It’s about being able catch that moment when the tale has been told. Learn how to spot it, understand it, and use it effectively in your own work. Not as a cheat or a quick escape from your own work...but as a way of knowing when the main mission of your story has been reached, the problems have been solved or at least dealt with, and the need or desire to keep going will feel overworked and gratuitous. I’ve seen stories ruin themselves that way, and it’s never pretty. Believe me.

I wrote a story not all that long ago where the main character’s main battle was all about finding enough comfort within himself and his family, even in his community, and now that he had found himself a secret boyfriend to be with...he wanted to gain the courage needed to break that frustrating wall of paranoia so they could finally be truly happy together. Of course, I wanted to make the characters somewhat lovable and relatable so my readers could latch onto them and stay engaged from beginning to end. And once the threshold had been reached, the protagonist decides to take a huge leap of faith and just do it and the struggle takes a back seat to what he has to gain by giving it his all. Enough is enough, right? And that was the level that he was trying to get to. That moment right there is where a ‘wrap’ up was needed. So I made the creative choice to do exactly that.

So...did I take the extra time to write out the dramatic showdown between him and his parents? No. I could have, but I didn’t. The story actually ends with him nervously taking his boyfriend’s hand outside of the house...and the two of them start walking towards his front door to make the big confession, with the love of his life promising to be there by his side through it all. THAT is an ambiguous ending to a story.

Sure, there are people who might have wanted more, or wanted to sit in on the big revelation and the drama to follow, or wanted another ten to fifteen chapters to see both boys happy and enjoying their time together as an openly gay couple. More giggles, more kisses, more sex...yeah, I get it. But none of that other stuff feeds into the actual point of the story. The story was about the triumph of my main character over his biggest fear of coming out regardless of scary it may seem. Finding the strength to make a leap of faith. Mission accomplished. Beyond that, I didn’t want to open up any new gateways or possible issues for future chapters. I wanted it to end and leave it where it was most powerful in its impact within the rest of the narrative. Sometimes, that’s just the best way to go with a story that has already said what it needed to say.

“But Comsie...what happens after that? Do they stay together? Do they come out at school? Do they get bullied? Do they grow into adults and get a house together in the suburbs?” My answer is always the same...

...I leave that up to your imagination.

Don’t get me wrong...it is never my intention to cut a story short or to cheat my readers out of a satisfying ending. That would just be mean, especially after asking them to give me their time and attention to invest in the lives of the characters I’ve created. I would never advise anyone to do that with their work. What I’m saying is that there are going to be times when your story’s climax doesn’t have to be all explosions and fireworks. It won’t always result in a tragic death, or a marriage proposal, or the hottest sex scene that you’ve ever typed out on a computer screen. Sometimes it’s just a solution to the main problem that was introduced earlier on, and a proud sigh of relief when things work themselves and the idea of ‘then they lived happily ever after’ is implied. Period.

I mean, I’ve seen enough happily ever after Disney cartoons where I just sort of let the idea drop there and I consider it a happy ending. But, at the end of the day...I don’t really know that for sure. Hehehe, for all I know Sleeping Beauty could have ended up being a total bitch and the prince spent the rest of his life miserable with the choice he made. Pinocchio might have danced himself out into the street as a real boy and was run over by a bus. Who knows? The end gets to be whatever I want it to be. But, due to the usual goodhearted nature of your average human being...it’s usually just assumed that everything turned out great for our favorite characters, whether that’s true or not.

But the happiest of couples sometimes break up. The bad guys don’t always get punished for being awful people and are often rewarded for it. People get sick, people get hurt, and unforseen circumstances get in the way. Think of your typical zombie movie. How many of them actually have a ‘happy’ ending? Seriously...the most you can hope for is having your favorite protagonists get out of their current situation to escape to another place where...there is still an apocalyptic number of zombies still roaming the streets. But, you know...for now, the ambiguous ending brings that particular story to a close and allows everything else sort of fade into the background, depending on the reader’s interpretation.

For me? My very first gay teen story, “New Kid In School” (https://gayauthors.org/story/comicality/newkidinschool) has been going on for many many years now, with a variety of different conflicts and issues and moments that can be seen as both good and bad over the years...but there IS an actual end coming for that story. And when it happens, I’m sure that it will feel like saying goodbye to some very dear friends of mine, and it will probably feel like that for a number of readers as well. But when the story has been told and I’ve touched on everything that I always imagined that I’d be able to tackle with their relationship...that will be the end of it. So, if you were looking for a “New Kid: The College Years”, or having them open up an antique store together on Main Street, or having them peacefully sharing a lemonade in a couple of rocking chairs on their front porch when they get old and gray...it won’t happen. Hehehe, just letting you know now. Not that it wouldn’t be fun to write that out, that wasn’t where the story started and it wasn’t the story it set out to tell. It’s about young love. First love. And figuring out the pitfalls of their very first relationship as best as they could without any kind of road map or open advice about how to handle it. After that, it becomes a different story altogether. And if it’s going to be a completely different story...then why not just write a completely different story? You know?

The thing to always keep in mind when writing an ambiguous ending to your narrative is whether or not the story is actually finished with it’s potential. Whether or not you’ve actually covered all the bases for each and every one of your characters and wrapped them up as well. And then have a certain mood or vibe that will somehow guide your audience towards whatever assumptions they may have when thinking about it. If you’re looking for a happy ending, end on a happy note. One with a sense of hope and love and a positive outlook on the future...whether it was meant to be or not. You’ve done your job as a writer, and now you can push that spotlight into a place that lets your readers believe that the sky is the limit from here. Then again, if you have a story that ends on a down note or with some level of heartbreak...you can still guide your readers towards the feeling you want your narrative to have. You can focus on a long road back to ever getting over the pain and rejection of it all, or you can concentrate on a ‘Guess you can’t win them all’ idea, and have it hurt but still instill hope that your main characters will get past it at some point and love again someday. It’s all in your tone and the words you use to bring the emotions involved to life. However you see it, however you feel it...put it out there, and leave your audience to fill in the rest of that fantasy blank as they see fit. All you can do is give them a bit of a nudge and see what happens.

What I think is so useful about these kind of endings is not at all about bringing the story to a close, but allowing it to live on by glorifying the story’s true intention and preventing myself from dragging it out to the point where the main highlight becomes deluded, or ends up as a faded spark in the background. Does that make sense? I hope so.

Anyway, I hope this gives you guys a little something to think about when you’re writing and coming to the end of you your story, looking for it to come out with the goals and purposes shining as brightly as humanly possible. Find your main focus, decide the point where an appropriate ending should be, and then pad the landing without letting it linger beyond it’s welcome. Cool?

Take care, you guys! And happy writing!