Endings.

with cheese, thanks chuck

I like mine with a twist. Sometimes. Unless the twist is that there is no twist...

I don't like endings at all- I usually like the stories to go on and on. . .

Depends on the format, for instance, in poetry, I prefer something that credits personal perception; asks the reader to interact and personalise meaning as well as recognise some, if not all, of authorial intention/layers...errr xx

Many a good novel has been spolied by a crappy ending.

Yes HighHat, there are stories that I would like to go on, but I suppose most novels are not written as realtime/soaps, with endless sequels, so some sort of credible point at which to end the narrative within and relating to, the context of the reality created during a particular passage of time/universe of the storyline has to be accepted...if grudgingly :-) Loose ends don't always need to be tied if they are designed to extend the story beyond the novel and within the reader's imagination. Heck, look at the LOTR's spin offs etc On the other hand, if I read a 'whodunnit' I expect to be told whodid!

I can't think of many better endings than LOTR, to be honest, although it's not everyone's cup of tea - a sort of redemption without a fanfare, a homecoming without resolution (like so many of those trench veterans found), and the sense throughout of a story that, however huge, will pass away into its own history like everything does in the end. Something like that ...

:-) maggy, it did a bit x RJ,I meant the ending of LOTR did not necessarily leave one feeling 'replete' :-) xx

Something appropriately pitched that doesn't bow to the current trend for tying everything off and resolving every question? The Book of Dave is a good example (although not Self's best), or Vernon God Little. You should only resolve every issue (to my mind) if you're writing a comedy. Otherwise you have to come away with questions and subjective perceptions - that's one of the central tenets of drama/tragedy/conflict/rhetoric. No reaction, no effect. As for whodunnit's, Philip K Dick does a particularly amorphous take on those where you can sometimes come away unsure of what's been done, let alone who dun it!

i sometimes like endings a la 'kind hearts and coronets' or 'the italian job'. so I can decide whether they get away with it or not.

BBG...as long as it wasn't done, in my kitchen, with the melon baller :-D xx

If I've enjoyed something, I like the ending to make me feel the characters are going on with their lives after I've closed the book, even if that means leaving a number of loose ends. If I haven't liked it, I'm rather of the fireball/Emmerdale plane crash tendency.