
729 - Endings Compendium, Part II
From Scriptnotes Podcast by John August and Craig Mazin
March 24, 2026 · 1h 4m · Season 15 · Episode 729
About this episode
John and Craig revisit key segments on crafting satisfying endings in storytelling.
In our first sequel compendium, John and Craig revisit four of their best segments dedicated to crafting a satisfying and emotional ending to your story. They look at rooting your ending in character, the function of the denouement, what makes a memorable farewell, how and why our endings can change, and how to bring everything full-circle. In our bonus segment for premium members, John and producer Drew continue a discussion that Drew Goddard started on character sides and the process of casting minor characters. Links: Our first endings compendium, Episode 524 – The Home Stretch A video essay of our farewell scenes discussion with Aline Brosh McKenna Episodes 44 – Endings for beginners , 366 – Tying Things Up , 648 – Farewell Scenes , and 392 – The Final Moment Dan Harmon story circle Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member , or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok John August on Bluesky and Instagram Outro by Eric Pearson ( send us yours! ) Segments originally produced by Stuart Friedel , Megan McDonnell , Drew Marquardt and…
People in this episode
Hosts: John August, Craig Mazin
Topics covered
- endings
- storytelling
- character development
- denouement
- casting
- emotional closure
Keywords
- endings
- story structure
- character arcs
- denouement
- farewell scenes
- casting
- Scriptnotes
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Scriptnotes, Scriptnotes Premium, Inneresting Newsletter, Scriptnotes book, Scriptnotes T-shirt, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky, Matthew Chilelli
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