Couldn't decide between a sad ending or a happy ending for my fantasy story

I sat on it for three days and finally went with bittersweet. The beta readers literally argued about it last night at the coffee shop, and I think that's actually perfect for what I was going for. Has anyone else had readers fight over your ending choice?

2 comments

2 Comments

walker.max11d ago

Man I felt this one. My last book I wrote the final chapter like six different times because I couldn't land it, and when I finally went with the ending where the main character just walks away from everything without looking back, half my early readers said it was too sad and the other half said it was the only way it could end. They went back and forth for like two weeks in the group chat until someone just said "can we all agree it made us feel something" and that kind of settled it. Honestly that arguing might be the best sign you're getting.

the_jenny11d ago

Twenty two drafts man. That's what it took me on my last short story because I kept trying to make the ending happy when the whole thing was obviously a tragedy from page one. I just couldnt let the character be miserable even though thats where the story was going. Finally my editor just looked at me and said "youre not writing a romcom stop pretending" and I redid the whole thing in one sitting with the character getting what they deserved instead of what I wanted for them. Now when people argue about whether my ending was cruel or necessary I just tell them at least nobody is calling it boring.