How to Close the Plot of a Play

Some script writers feel they are "avant garde" enough to leave plot lines open at the end of a narrative script, but they're not thinking about their audience. In most cases, leaving plot lines open comes off as flawed thinking and messy writing, and leaves the audience unsatisfied. So, unless you really are the creative genius meant to save the world from itself, do yourself a favor and close up the plot lines at the end of your play.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. Answer the unanswered questions. Try to anticipate what a reader will think about what might happen offscreen beyond the end of your script. Then try to give them some answers that close up or resolve particular plot and subplot lines.
2. Make sure the bad guys get their come-uppance. This is a preferred ending strategy for most scriptwriters. If you want the villains to get away clean, that's okay too, but set it up clearly so viewers know whether or not the bill came due for characters who caused climactic challenges in prior scenes.
3. Show things "simmering down" in your common settings. Go back to a setting you showed earlier in the play, and provide nice dialogue comments to show things are resolving for characters.
4. Use thoughtful monologues to show what characters are thinking about the climax that has passed. This is a common way play writers address resolution.
5. Show concrete results of the climactic moments. It's best to go back to basics at some point and show viewers how things shook out with any explosive climactic points.
6. Set up continuation. Lots of play writers like to leave the scene open for future events, or hint at what may happen after the end of the play. This "leading" writing often interests viewers by letting them see a little into the future.
7. Provide the "moral" of your play plot or story. As experts show in the play writing website Scriptologist, many play or screen scripts use resolution to make judgments about the results of actions. These "morals" are something you add based on your perogative as a writer.

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