Right now, we live in a time when it seems there’s never an end to the story. Comic books are getting reboot after reboot, games are getting sequel after sequel, films and TV shows get spinoffs, etc. That’s not always a bad thing, in fact I’m all for a good story any time. In a lot of cases though, certain stories should be ending or don’t need to be told and that’s a major issue. But how do we know when to end it? That’s the question. It’s not easy to figure out, especially in this time when it seems stories keep continuing on.

It seems there are many ways to keep a story going. You can reboot a series, bring a character back from death, go into their unexplored past, create a new story from a side character… the list goes on. This trend started a while back, and a good example of it was the death and return of Superman, at least in the comic book world. That has leaked over into film and TV. Here’s a great video about that by Max Landis. It’s definitely worth the watch:

I also have a great article here on when to stop writing: Standout Books: Are You Killing Your Book With Too Much Detail And Explanation?

I feel like this is an important topic to cover at this time. The impact a story creates is very important, and can easily be taken away when a story drones on. It may be a good idea to ask yourself, “what’s truly best for this story?” You’ll be happier with what you’ve written, and your audience will be happier with the results. It’s a win-win.