: Re: Do Short Stories Need Definitive Endings? I'm looking to create a few short stories that are in a shared universe of sorts and I'm curious whether or not I need to have a definitive ending
Yes, if you want readers to be satisfied with your writing.
You don't have to answer everything, or explain everything, but a story (long or short) has a central unknown that is the reason the reader is reading, and the story isn't over until it is answered.
That central unknown may or may not be explicitly stated, but the MC has a problem that is driving them to actions, and that problem must be resolved in some way by the time the story ends.
"Resolving some situation and moving on to the next" is fine.
A cliffhanger leading to another story is fine too, IF you resolved the central problem of the current story. If you did not, then you don't have a story ending, you have a single multi-installment story (like a two-episode finale for a TV season -- It is one story told in two "parts" or installments).
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