How to finish a short story: try three endings
A character is in trouble, something has happened—and you cannot find the last paragraph. Keep the same opening and try three different endings. This paper exercise gives you a concrete event to write towards, then a way to check whether it belongs in your story.
Start with three anchors
Take paper and a pen, or use a document. From your unfinished story, write down what the character wants right now, what gets in the way, and one concrete detail already present. Keep these notes short: “perform a show / torn scenery / paper moon” is enough.
The three prompts below are working options, not a complete list of story endings. They can overlap. You do not need a surprise twist, a moral or a happy outcome. For this exercise, something must change through an action, a discovery or a decision.
One opening to try
Mira had set a cardboard theatre on the courtyard table, beside a roll of tape. She wanted to perform her dragon story for the neighbours, after a week of rehearsing to an empty chair. One child sat down. Mira raised the yellow paper moon. A gust tore a crooked hole through the painted hill at the back of the stage. She stopped, with the moon in one hand and the dragon in the other.
Her immediate want is to perform; the torn backdrop interrupts her. The theatre, child, moon and dragon are already available. Each ending below starts again from this same stopping point. They are alternatives, not three successive scenes.
Ending 1: outcome
Answer the practical question: does the attempt succeed, fail or partly work? Show one consequence so the result has weight.
Mira sent the dragon through the hole. “The mountain has a back door,” she said. He fetched the moon from behind it and carried it home. When the dragon bowed, the child clapped. Mira bowed too, still holding the torn hill upright.
The show reaches an ending, and the applause makes its result visible. The damaged backdrop remains damaged. The solution uses the props already in the opening, so you can trace how it happened.
Ending 2: choice
Let the character change their approach or give up something they wanted. Put that choice into an action, then show what it changes.
Mira lowered both props. “My hill broke. Will you help?” The child came round the table, put a hand through the tear and wiggled five fingers. “A forest,” they said. Together they sent the dragon between the finger-trees until it fell asleep in the child’s palm. This time two performers bowed.
Mira gives up doing the show alone and asks for help. The final bow shows the new arrangement. Saying only “Mira learned to cooperate” would leave out the action that lets a reader see the change.
Ending 3: echo
Return to a detail from the beginning, but change what it means or what the character does with it. An echo can close an ending or leave the future open.
Mira taped the paper moon above the tear, leaving the hole open below it. She stood the dragon beside the gap. “He had always wanted a door in the sky,” she said. The child pulled the chair closer. Mira made the dragon knock.
The paper moon now marks an entrance; the tear has become part of the story. This open ending settles Mira’s response to the accident: she adapts the stage and continues. We do not see whether she finishes the performance. If your main question needs that answer, add it; an echoed image alone may not be enough.
When an ending feels weak
- A stranger or new power solves everything: ask whether the solution needs a small introduction earlier. For this exercise, first try using something already present.
- The last sentence explains the lesson: try replacing it with a gesture, a changed object or a consequence. Compare which version says what you want.
- The story simply stops: name the action or decision that has happened. “She was about to choose” postpones the choice.
- The ending opens another large problem: decide whether you want a sequel. If not, bring attention back to the question this story began with.
Try it on your own story
Make three spaces on your paper: Outcome, Choice, Echo. Write two or three sentences in each, using the same opening. Continue on another sheet if you need room. These are sketches; you can choose one before polishing its wording.
Read the opening followed immediately by each ending. Can you point to a connection with the opening, a changed action or situation, and a detail that prepares the ending? Choose one version. If it needs a missing clue or a clearer want, revise an earlier sentence rather than explaining everything at the end.
You can also use Mira’s opening and invent a fourth ending. Keep one existing prop and change what she does with it.
About this exercise
Trying alternative endings is an established writing activity. The British Council offers a classroom version; the National Literacy Trust uses questions about a story’s outcome, and the BBC suggests considering the final feeling. Coru created this three-prompt sequence, the theatre story and its endings. These are craft suggestions, not rules for every story.
One story, three endings — worksheet (A4)
One page with prompts and writing space. You can also use plain paper; continue on another sheet if needed.