Writing Tip #35: Don't Use the "It Was Just a Dream" Escape Hatch

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Hello friends of The Ink Well!

It has been a while since we've added to our library of writing tips. This article sheds light on one of the common flaws we see in short stories by fledgling writers, and why you might hear an outcry from the admin team if you choose to end a story this way.

"It was just a dream."

"What?" your curator cries. "A dream?? No!"

This is @jayna, and I love to help writers improve their craft. So I thought I'd share with you the full scoop on just why you want to avoid this "escape hatch," as I call it.

When you think of an escape hatch, it's not the best way to get out of a tough situation, is it? No, in fact it's a last resort. You're abandoning the mission when you choose the escape hatch!

The plane is spiraling toward Earth. You're shouting, "Mayday! Mayday!" There appears to be no way out. So you strap on your parachute and fling open the door of the plane. You're blasted by the force of the wind. You close your eyes and leap out with only seconds to spare before it will be too late to inflate the parachute.

And then it turns out it was all just a dream.

Hopefully this scenario illustrates that writing a story that turns out to be a dream is not a good approach to storytelling. Let's explore why.

What's Wrong with a Story Ending as a Dream?

There are several great reasons why you don't want to use this way out:

• It diminishes the story. The best stories are about change. We want to see a character become transformed by their experiences. Perhaps they learn something, or gain a friend, or become a better person. If the things they experience in the story are just a dream, their potential transformation is completely mitigated.
• The reader feels cheated. If the events and conflict your character was experiencing weren't real (inside the reality of the story), then the story instantly becomes meaningless. None of what we just read matters.
• "It's lazy!" This is one of the most often-cited reasons why readers hate for a story to end in the main character waking from a dream. They want a true resolution, not a story ending that feels like the writer plopped it in there because they were tired of writing and couldn't think of anything better.

But don't just take it from me. Here are some great resources for further investigation of this idea.

• Jay Carver (hilariously) uses a date that ends badly as an analogy for ending a story with "it was just a dream" in this video.

• Ara Alexander in a post on The Outer Haven blog provides some personal insights into her frustration with the just-a-dream ending — in stories, films and video games. "It doesn't do justice to the protagonists," is one of her reasons. And I love this line in her explanation of that concept:

An emotionally impactful story will hit players harder if the protagonist is relatable and, for lack of a better word, “human,” even if they might not be a human being.

This fact makes it all the more tragic when a character’s deeds are swept away with a simple “It was simply a dream.”

• People discuss the topic at length on forums, like this one on Resetera in which some of the reasons people dislike dream endings include the following:

Because dreams are generally vague and nonsensical, so having a long, flowing, vivid and deliberate storyline be a dream can come off as a bit of a joke.

It trivializes everything we cared about and is an elementary school student's idea of cleverness.

What's a Better Way to End a Story?

There is no right way to end a story, of course. And the best way to end a story totally depends on the type of story you're writing.

However, there is one great rule of thumb: Resolve the conflict.

If you have written a story that is impactful, and in which your main character has experienced something frightening or terrible, you somehow need to bring the reader a resolution. Your character could find her way home by remembering how to use the stars to guide her. She could bar the door against the wolf. Your character could remember something important his grandmother said that helps him cope with his grief over her loss.

And there's another great rule of thumb for how not to end a story: Don't end with a cliffhanger.

Cliffhangers are great for novelists that are writing multi-volume novels. But we highly recommend that you avoid them in short stories, for some of the same reasons that we don't recommend ending a story as just a dream. It does not provide a satisfying resolution. We are left "hanging." And that leaves the reader feeling frustrated.

More Resources for How to End Stories

The following are some pointers to further reading on ways to end stories in an artful way that leaves your reader satisfied. Note that they all discuss the pros and cons of the cliffhanger or "unresolved story."

• How to End a Story, The Write Life
• 6 Ways to End Your Story, Master Class
• 100 Ways to End a Story, Book Fox

Happy writing!

@jayna, writer and moderator at The Ink Well, along with @agmoore, @gracielaacevedo, @yaziris and @itsostylish

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