The Ending Is Vital

Some people say one ought to start writing a story from the end. For instance, after Mr. Night Shyamalan wrote his first draft of The Sixth Sense he [spoiler alert] realized that he needed for his main character, psychologist Cole Sear, to be a ghost himself. Only then would his story have a true, deep impact. Once he figured out the ending he needed, he worked the story backward, putting in hints about the truth throughout the story.



Walt Disney himself has stated this point in a succinct way:
"A good ending is vital to a picture, the single most important element, because it is what the audience takes with them out of the theater."

And it's true. I remember leaving the theater after watching Inception, and all I could hear around me were people discussing the ending of the movie, whether Cobb was still dreaming like his wife had told him all along, or if he'd managed to go back to reality and his waiting children (his quest throughout the movie). Even two long and far parking lots away, that's all people were talking about. And at the office. And on the Internet. Everywhere.

So the ending is key as to whether someone will remember your story for a lifetime, or simply shelve it as another, perhaps entertaining, [enter genre here].