A friend of mine recently lamented that novels these days either do not have an ending, or the ending is depressing or disappointing in some way.

This was my response:  The editors at the big publishing houses read 50+ manuscripts a day, and almost all of those novels have some kind of unique ending or twist ending; and the editors simply get tired of them. And since they are tired of them, they assume the reading public is tired of good endings, as well.

Ironically, it’s the other way around.

The well-known “O. Henry” ending or the ol’ “Asimov Twist” are two examples of these types of conclusions.  People love a good ending.

Hell, that’s why we read fiction. If we wanted crappy endings, we could just sit back and watch real life unfold.

Thanksgiving and peace, from Keith

© 2011 Alan Keith Parker