Endings

An ending is the last node on a path. It has text and a type, and it has no choices. When a reader reaches one, that run of the story is over.

The four types#

You pick the type at the top of the ending. It sets the color of the label the reader sees, and it sets their expectation.

• Good. Things work out. The character is safe, succeeds, or finds peace.
• Bad. The character fails, is hurt, or loses something that mattered.
• Neutral. Bittersweet, ambiguous or open. Neither a win nor a loss.
• Secret. An ending a reader only reaches by making an unusual set of choices. Until they find it, it shows up as locked.

How many endings#

Aim for four to seven. With fewer than four, there is not much reason to read the story twice. With more than seven, the map gets hard to manage, and for you as much as for readers.

Readers see how many endings a story has and how many they have found, and the ones they have not found yet show as unexplored. That gives replaying a purpose, so the number is part of the design.

Secret endings#

We recommend at least one secret ending in every story. It works best when it feels discovered, not stumbled into. A good secret path:

• needs at least one choice that looks wrong on a first read,
• rewards readers who paid attention to details in the text,
• cannot be reached by accident.

Do not hide it behind something arbitrary. A reader who finds it should think "of course", not "how was I supposed to know that?".

Writing the ending#

The ending text is the most important writing in the story, because it is the last thing a reader sees. Make it earned and specific. An ending that fits the choices the reader made is better than a lovely one that could sit at the end of any story.

An ending can run longer than a scene if the story needs it. The editor's length warning applies to endings too, but it is only a warning.

The ending key#

Each ending has a key, a short label with underscores such as safe_shelter. The editor fills one in for you. Once your story is published, the key is how Wyoot remembers which endings a reader has found, so it must never change. If you rename it after publishing, readers lose credit for that ending.

Next#

Endings, scenes and choices together make a map. The story graph shows the shapes it can take.