How A Writer Ends It All

When I was young, I had an epiphany: I could change a story I had read or seen or heard.  I could re-write it and make the characters of a story change direction, multiple times if I wanted.  
  
Some mornings, I would get up to find my mother watching television.  She would stumble upon a movie and watch it without knowing beforehand what the movie was about.  Sometimes I would join her because I loved the mystery and newness of the movie, but other times I refused no matter how good it appeared to be because I had been burned before by the unsatisfactory ending.  I think that this subconsciously added to my drive towards writing.  In writing, I can have my revenge and create satisfactory endings for my readers because I know how they would feel if I did not write that type of ending.

Of course, a "satisfactory ending" is different for everyone and different for each story.  Having everyone live at the end may not be the best thing for the meaning behind the story.

Life is already full of mysteries and unanswered questions.  I want stories to have answers and to not be exactly like life.  After all, that is why I turn to stories in the first place; to escape the reality I know and enter one that I recognize, but is still somewhat different.  

There are some stories that I accept as having what I find to be an unsatisfactory ending because I see that it is necessary for the meaning behind it.  But I can't guarantee that I won't feel like I wasted my time or that I won't complain about it for a day or two.

  Here's the post that got me thinking about this topic:

https://janefriedman.com/story-ending-doesnt-satisfy/

(For fellow writers, I suggest following Jane Friedman's blog; she has great advice!) 



Second image source: http://www.tedxnormal.com/what-a-grandmas-experience-taught-me-about-storytelling-kim-behrens-kaufman-tedxnormal-talk-recap/