Homecomings. Gamechangers. Portals. Disasters. New Beginnings. Rebirths. Doors. These are just a few of the wildly divergent words used to describe conclusions. Endings should be believably unbelievable and also unbelievably believable. Totally predictable yet surprising. David Leavitt famously stated that endings should make readers say “Oh my God” and then “of course.” Endings should make readers finish the last sentences with a satisfied sigh while also exploding all assumptions so readers see the world entirely anew. How do we do this?
In this class, we'll study the mystery of endings in novels, memoirs, essays, short stories, TV, and film with the goal of generating ideas for writing our conclusions. We'll discuss the ethics of catharsis and resolution while examining how successful endings balance interior and exterior struggles alongside theme and meaning. We'll also trace how conclusions are set up through image, gesture, framing, questions, rhetoric, scene, and more—and practice strategies of expansion, reversal, returns, speculation, and closure. In addition to craft lectures, generative exercises, and brainstorming sessions, writers will be invited to submit endings to be workshopped in class.
