unclear ending? what are your feelings for them?

So, I have a few ideas for the ending of the series I'm writing. But I came up with another one today.

It has the closure that the readers and characters have been waiting for by a news report talking during the scene. But for the last scene it switches to another characters POV for the first time and it ends without the readers not knowing if the MC has died or not.

Would you hate that ending if you had read a series? Would you want a definite happy/sad ending?

A series? Umpteen volumes and then you don't tell us if the MC is dead or not?

Quite frankly, I think I'd throw the book across the room and tell everyone how horrible you are.

think of the ending of the Bourne identity trilogy. no body found, Julia Stiles smiles. it can be done.

given the demonstrated awesomeness of Jason Bourne, the probability of happy ending is high and the possibility of sequels is preserved.

It would be better if it's one book. But I like endings that can be interpreted different ways, so if the rest of the series is good, and both possible endings "make sense" for the character(s), I could still like the ending.

Character death or not...I don't know, that's going a little too far.

When I was trying to see if Warner Brothers would let outside writers write for them (they still wouldn't after I showed how well I'd do w/examples), I discovered a "Full House: Michelle" book, obviously YA here, but it explains why a 4th grade classmate cheated off Michelle as he was feeling a lot of pressure because his parents were considering divorce and he was like the one responsible for caring for his younger siblings. That was fine because, while we don't know int he end if the boy's parents divorced or not, this allows children to relate to it either way. Although I felt I had to write it as a happy ending with them reconciling. (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3389283/1/The_bVolunteered_b if anyone's itnerested)

however, it's one thing to have something impact the life of a character you like and not be sure where it'll go, and to have that life itself be uncertain. After readers have poured their hearts and minds into a character for a series of books, I think there has to be certainty. It's not just saying, "After all this time, we're not sure if x or y will happen in his life, but he's set eitehr way because he has great friends and is willing tos tand up and take responsibility for his wrong actiosn, so whatever happens he's growing through it." Readers can live with that (though obviously soem, like me, create their own solutions to even that), becasue everything's set up for them. But, they want a world in which they know if the character will survive - if they know there will be a sequel *maybe*, but I think a better alternative should be found.

Maybe the "Abyssinia, Henry" approach would work. (The M*A*S*H episode where Col. Blake is killed off - Radar walks in and announces, "Colonel Blake helicoputer was shot at over the Sea of Japan...it spn out and crashed...there were no survivors.") In that episode, yes, if you want to be *really specific about it, it's possible he was presumed drowned and was actually catpured and kept as a prisoner of war, but how likely is that, really? In that case,if you really wanted, you could leafve a little window of opportunity out there for your MC to have lived, but the shock value is so great (only Gary Burghoff, who played Radar, was givent he last lines so the shock on everyone ele's face would be much more real) that the reader will feel there has to be closure. (As I did with M*A*S*H, and may others likely did; I only think the POW idea is possible because I read a fanfic where that was the case a number of years ago.)

This is the kind of ending I like--as a season finale in a TV show. Not as the end of the show. If you left it open-ended, I'd be expecting a sequel, and if you said you were done with it, the best you could hope for would be fandom picking up where you left off. I'd be mad.

I think it depends too much on the story to be able to say. Like was mentioned above, it works in the Borne series because he's a spy who's gotten out of so many lifethreatening situations. It would feel sort of anti-climactic if after all that, he was definately dead. But definately alive and the story wouldn't have ended, because he'd continue to be hunted. So, it worked.

I think if it's the type of story that requires a definate life or death ending, though,and you give them a vague ending, they'll be annoyed.

I'd pretty much go into a state of depression xD It's a cool idea, I'll give you that, but personally I think I'd die inside if I didn't know whether the MC died or not. It depends on the relationship you've built up between the reader and the MC. If it's a kind of weak one where your MC doesn't share too much personal stuff, then by all means, use it and let the readers decide if they like it or not. But if your MC would have a high relationship with the reader than please do not leave the mystery of death. :P Personally I like gaining a relationship with the MC, that's a good book for me, but leaving the MC dead is bad, and not knowing whether or not he/she is dead is even worse.

So...I wouldn't use it. xD

Anyone seen the ending to Chuck a few days ago? I'm always one for happy endings, and the ambiguous endings are only good if its done as to have enough certainty for both outcomes. The ending for Chuck was just far too uncertain for me to allow myself to believe everything is fine

I would probably throw the book several times. Scream, say some things I would have to repent for, then spam your e-mail and demand you refund my money for that rip off and violently tirade around in a RAGE.

Bourne isn't that unfair, we pretty much can establish he is alive out there somewhere.

Same with Titanic, you can interpret it how you like

But to provide NOTHING? oh that is ASKING for a mob

haha, thanks guys. I've tweaked the ending so the MC is dead either way they look at it, but they can make their mind up on whether she died now or later on :)

Ok, so my thoughts: I like endings that are like "cliff hangers" They make me want to read more of your series. If it's the very end of the series, you might want a clear ending but if it's the ending of the first book then it's ok to have kind of an unclear ending like basically saying "to be continued" without really saying it. Good luck.

A cliff hanger is cool... in the middle of narrative. But if you plan to end-end it, I mean completely end, full stop, nothing more, that's all folks... than you should look if you have similar POV switching in your story elsewhere, so you can justify it in the context of the whole. Like, you don't want it to look too superficial. You don't want to force the "unclearness" to the reader. But if you can do it "smoothly", it would be cool.

I also want to point out that it depends on how you present your story. I know you said you are going to change the ending more, but it depends on how you write.

If you reveal many deep facts about a character and full his inner workings, only to not say clearly that he died, then I would feel cheated. I would think that the writer has carried me on only to punish me at the end. It's a kinda stick-it-to-you to readers, especially in a series.

However, if you have a lot of purposely unclear things happening in the story, then an unclear ending would be proper. I can't remember what the book was called, but there one that was like this last explanation. You find out that a boy lives in a society that tries to control them on every base. They can't even see colors, just grey tones. Slowly it is revealed that everything is not what it seems, and even if it is, it isn't. At the end of the book, you don't know if he escaped the town or is having an delusion. I would have loved to have it have a clear ending. But looking back, it would have been too abrupt.

An unclear ending might work for a single book, but I don't like the book having an unclear ending. Open is fine, but not vague. Cliffhangers are irritating if you don't have the next installment in hand. There are some authors I refuse to read until the entire series is finished.

I find unclear endings work best with short stories. 10-15k at the most.

A series . . . no. Just no.

Awe . . . the MC died? RIP xD I'm sad now.

Fucking hate it unless there's a sequel. Any writer who does that has wasted my time.