Open Ending
Ending text in a way that seals meaning without closing all questions
The five levels
Each anchor describes what separates one level from the next — not a general description of quality. This is the text the evaluator itself reads.
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Level 1 Below Standard
Ending closes everything simplistically or closes nothing
Example "And they lived happily" or abrupt stop without completion
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Level 2 Approaching
Acceptable ending but closes too much or too little
Example Ending is reasonable but doesn't inspire reader to think
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Level 3 At Standard
Ending closes story while leaving one or two questions
Example Reader closes book and thinks about one thing
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Level 4 Above Standard
Ending seals meaning while keeping horizon open
Example Reader feels emotional closure while questions remain
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Level 5 Exemplary
Ending makes everything preceding it read with different meaning
Example Ending retrospectively reinterprets the entire text
Where does your own work sit on these levels?
Submit one work to be read against this criterion alone: your position across the five levels, why you are not higher and why not lower, three literal quotes from your own work, and one exercise with its success check. Your first card is free.
Price: 7 SAR · Included in Pro & Artist Plus · First one free — Pricing details
Read my work by this criterionOther criteria in the same art
Ability to show emotions through actions and details rather than direct statement
The five levels →Constructing the scene like a building: setup, tension, climax, resolution
The five levels →Short sentence's ability to carry deep multi-layered meaning
The five levels →Conscious movement between times, using flashback and other techniques
The five levels →Consciously speeding and slowing text according to scene demands
The five levels →Character's convincing growth or transformation across the text
The five levels →Creating and managing anticipation and emotional investment in character's fate
The five levels →Using the five senses to bring the scene vividly to the reader
The five levels →