Sometimes a tidy ending isn’t where the story should go. Should you change it to conform or end it the way you feel deep in your gut it should end? It depends on genre. A Romance should end happily ever after, or at least happy for now. A down ending gets moved to Women's Fiction or added as another layer to a different genre. A murder Mystery should be solved. There can be an overarching foe for a series, like Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes, but each book has a case that is solved.
Beyond that, the resolution of your story can be a little more creative.
Every story has a central question. Will the protagonist succeed in his overall story goal? There are multiple answers.
1. Yes. Dick succeeds and there are no gray areas or hanging questions. The plot is tied up in a neat little bow. He feels good about it. This is an up ending. Readers love up endings.
2. No. Dick fails and feels bad about it. He fought tirelessly, but in the end just couldn’t win. This is a down ending. Readers are sometimes disappointed by down endings.
Romance: The lovers walk off into the sunset happy.
Thriller & Suspense, SciFi, Fantasy: The threat is averted and life goes on in a better way.
Horror: The monster is defeated, never to return.
Historical: The revolutionaries win and push the enemy off the battle ground.
Western: The shootout occurs and the Sherriff survives to fight off bad guys.
Con, Heist & Prison Break. The heist is a success and the gang take off with their winnings unscathed.
Team Victory: The underdog team wins the tournament or game. The crowd goes wild.
Gothic: The governess survives the crazy woman in the attic and lives happily ever after.
Mystery: The case is solved and the murderer either put away for life or dies.
3. Yes, but. Dick succeeds at one thing but fails at another. He succeeds but there are ramifications of his success that carry on into the future. He succeeds but at a terrible cost he didn’t calculate. This is a form of up-down ending. These work well in a trilogy. The first two books end Yes, but so there is another story to finish the series.
Romance: The lovers walk off into the sunset happy, but it leaves others in a bad position. This is shuttled off to Women's Fiction or another genre. Love comes with a cost.
Thriller & Suspense, SciFi, Fantasy: The threat is averted, for now. Either a greater threat has been uncovered or there were consequences to the win that they couldn't foresee.
Horror: The monster is defeated, they think. It either isn't really banished or there is another greater threat coming up the pike behind it.
Historical: The revolutionaries win the battle but not the war. There are more conflicts to come or their actions create a new worse conflict.
Western: The shootout occurs and the Sherriff survives to fight off bad guys. Sometimes the Sherriff dies. Sometimes another threat arrives to be vanquished in another book.
Con, Heist & Prison Break. The heist is a success but the gang members are imprisoned. Maybe the heist leads to a prison break.
Team Victory: The underdog team comes in second but still feels good about it. There is always next year.
Gothic: The governess survives the crazy woman in the attic and leaves realizing love does not overcome all.
Mystery: The case is solved, but the mastermind survives to fight another day.
4) No, and further more. Dick not only fails, but he is further punished or must try again in a sequel. Dick may have been going for the wrong goal and not only does he realize he is wrong, he must take on a new challenge to make it right. Dick fails at his goal, and we realize he was the bad guy all along. This is similar to the Yes, but option for all genres.
5) Yes and No. Dick thinks he has succeeded or failed in his goal but there is a twist ending and he finds the opposite is true. He can kill monster A only to find out the real monster is B. Dick may win the battle but cause a major war. Dick may succeed but hurt everyone affected. Dick succeeds at his goal but during the final credit roll, he gets nailed by an oncoming bus. This is another type of up-down ending.
6) Maybe Yes/Maybe No. The ending is left ambiguous. It is never made clear what really happened or how the story ends. The reader is left hanging. They may want to hang you. It is a risky artistic choice.
Whichever ending you choose, your story architecture must support it. The ending must grow organically from the actions and decisions leading up to it. You don’t have to make everyone happy. You just have to leave your audience satisfied. The worst thing is an unsatisfying ending that makes the reader feel like they wasted their money. I once read a book where an alternate ending was tacked on at the end by a new POV character and it basically undid the nicely wrapped up package. Never read that author again.
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