And Then I Woke Up: Writing Endings for Short Fiction and Nonfiction

Endings are tricky! They have to surprise the reader, satisfy their expectations, and leave them with an insight, image, or emotion that resonates. We'll look at four common ending problems and six ending patterns that just might solve everything, including the flash-forward, the cosmic comeuppance, the flashback, the rewind, the frozen-in-a-moment-of-possibility, and the curtain call, as modeled in some fiction by Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, and Jacob Guajardo, and nonfiction by writers including Jesmyn Ward. Bring in a story or an essay that didn't stick the landing, and we'll revise it toward a finish with flair.