I totally agree with intothewoodintothewood that my favourite endings leave me wanting more, but I have a couple things to add to that, too.
I'm equally fine with sad or happy endings (actually, I prefer happy endings because I am an emotional eggshell), but I think what I like best in an ending is that it makes things that happened in the beginning -- minor things, random things, things I thought I'd forgotten -- all come full-circle. I think that takes editing and rewriting after the first draft, but there's no feeling I like better than "Hey! So *that's* what was going on." The more subtle the connection, the better; I like Easter eggs like that.
Also, tying into the "want more" idea, I like endings that don't feel completely final. I like the sense that the story continues past the ending, that the book was just a quick glimpse into the characters' lives but that they still have challenges and victories just over the horizon.
I've never finished a novel-length work so I don't know how to write those, but at least that's what I like to encounter when I read!
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I'm equally fine with sad or happy endings (actually, I prefer happy endings because I am an emotional eggshell), but I think what I like best in an ending is that it makes things that happened in the beginning -- minor things, random things, things I thought I'd forgotten -- all come full-circle. I think that takes editing and rewriting after the first draft, but there's no feeling I like better than "Hey! So *that's* what was going on." The more subtle the connection, the better; I like Easter eggs like that.
Also, tying into the "want more" idea, I like endings that don't feel completely final. I like the sense that the story continues past the ending, that the book was just a quick glimpse into the characters' lives but that they still have challenges and victories just over the horizon.
I've never finished a novel-length work so I don't know how to write those, but at least that's what I like to encounter when I read!