certainly, it is reprehensible when the author is so desperate to surprise the reader that, in the last few pages, he abuses his power to introduce a miracle or previously unmentioned story-resolving character, thus destroying the delicate world he had created in the reader's mind. but i find it just as bad when, as in the more traditional surprise ending, the writer finds himself depending largely upon the withholding of information from the reader to create suspense.

the ideal twist ending should be unpredictable but, once read, seem inevitable. it should be an artful application of the butterfly-hurricane principle with the reader getting that rare glimpse of the usually unknowable path from one to the next.

i think perhaps the best surprise ending i can quickly bring to mind is that of Romeo and Juliet. To a theoretical person who did not know how the play ended, the final scene would be very difficult to predict. it is truly a surprise ending. yet, no cavalry rides over the hill. the lynchpin upon which it all hangs consists of just two miniscule events: the failure of Friar Laurence's note to reach Romeo and the tragic timing of his entry to Juliet's tomb. Given these two events, the play can only end in one way.

if a book has a good ending (whether twisty or straight), the knowledge of that ending should not dampen the enjoyment of the rest of the book. and this is so for Romeo and Juliet, for very few people are, like the theoretical reader, ignorant of the way the play climaxes, and yet it continues to be enjoyed.

in fact, it has long been a practise of mine to, when i am uncertain about whether i care to finish a book i am reading, i will flip to the end and read the last chapter. if it is a poor novel, then i will feel that i know all i need to know and will be happy to set the book down. if it is a good novel, then i will find my interest newly piqued and want to read the middle sections to understand just how the narrative reached this final stage.

and, most importantly, i have found that this is a very useful tool to improve my own writing. whenever i am composing a story, i always try to imagine some prospective reader who reads the last chapter first (or the last few paragraphs for a short story) and, if i cannot foresee this reader then bothering with the rest of the work, well, i am cheating not just him, but all my readers.

Not despair at having read a poorly written book: it is one of the best books I have read. There have been I think two movies made of it. I've seen the modern one and feel it is excellent too.

No, despair at the fact that there ever has been such an evil thing as war, and that we are still faced with it. There are very few pages in the book that fail to express war's evil nature, yet it is the surprise ending on the book's last page that, in my view, espresses that fact most forcefully and eloquently.

It is not a rug jerk for other reasons, in that it is consistent with the logic of the rest of the book. It could have ended without this final twist and possibly remained a best seller, but not as memorable a one.

-- All my online writing is here.

She found the story gripping until a few pages from the end, when it turns out that the evil clown who terrorized everyone was in reality a giant space spider. She said it was as if King got up from his desk to use the restroom, and upon returning forgot what he meant to write about.

Myself, I think it was some kind of contractual dispute.

I'm pleased to find the above article after returning to Write-On after so long away. I'm working on an essay I will submit in a day or so that uses It to demonstrate that even the best writers still struggle with their writing. When I do, I'm going to make the words "giant space spider" a link to this page.

-- All my online writing is here.