Monday night, CBS ended the long-running series How I Met Your Mother with a much-hyped finale. The way the series ended brought to mind a major point about writing.
Series finales are always heavily-contested. For one, people have come to know and love the characters and will miss them. In the case of How I Met Your Mother, the finale is the entire narrative structure of the show, the meeting of the mother. Viewers are conflicted. They want to see the climax, but their relationship with the characters is over. It’s a tough position for a series writer, because there isn’t a follow-up episode to redeem any mistakes. This is the same situation you face as a fiction writer. If you haven’t seen the show yet, and spoilers matter to you, do not go any further. (more…)