Shoutout to my writing group for calling out my lazy ending

Last Tuesday I shared a short story in my online writing group about a guy who finds a mysterious key in his attic. After three pages of buildup, I ended it with 'and then he woke up.' One member said 'you just wasted 20 minutes of my life.' It stung but they were right. Anyone else ever get called out for a cheap twist?

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finleythomas4mo ago

The "it was all a dream" ending is basically telling the reader their time doesn't matter. That key in the attic could have led anywhere but you chose the exit door instead. A good twist should add meaning to everything that came before, not erase it. Next time plant hints through the story that make the ending feel earned rather than thrown in last minute. Readers can smell a cop out from three paragraphs away.

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angelab624mo ago

Hard disagree on this one. Sometimes a dream ending can hit harder than a neat tidy resolution, like when the whole point is that the character is trapped in their own head and the journey was never about the destination anyway. The reader's time still matters if the dream reveals something true about the character or the world, even if it didn't physically happen. A well done dream twist can make you rethink everything you just read in a new light, which is way more meaningful than just checking boxes on a plot map.

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