JournalismFree
Write a kicker for your story
Paste your story and get five ending options built from the quotes and details already in it, each with a note on why it works.
River reads your story and writes five ending options, known in newsrooms as kickers. Each one is built from material already in the piece: a quote you have not used yet, a detail that echoes the opening, or a forward look the reporting supports. Every option comes with a short note on what it does, so you can choose with your editor rather than guess.
A kicker should close the story, not add to it. Endings that introduce a new fact, a moral, or a quote the reporter did not get break the trust the rest of the piece built. River works only from your draft and flags any ending that would need something new.
It is for feature writers, profile writers, student journalists and newsletter writers whose stories trail off or stop abruptly.
What makes a kicker work
A kicker is the last line or paragraph of a feature, and readers remember it more than anything in the middle. The strongest kickers come from the reporting: a quote that lands the theme, a small concrete detail, or a return to the scene or person the story opened with. They feel inevitable because the story has been building toward them.
Common endings that fall flat include summarizing what the reader just read, ending on a question the story cannot answer, and adding a moral the reporting does not support. In news writing, ending on one side of a dispute can also tilt a story that was balanced until then. A good editor will ask whether the last word goes to the right person, and why.
An illustrative pattern: a profile that opens with a man learning to read in a prison cell might end with him handing a book to a new student, a detail from the reporter's notes. Nothing new is introduced. The image simply completes the circle the opening drew.
How it works
Paste the story
Paste the full draft, including the ending you have now.
River reads for material
It finds unused quotes, the opening image and the strongest details.
Get five options
Each ending comes with what it does and where it came from.
Refine in chat
Ask for a shorter version, or one that ends on a different person.
What you get
- Five ending options, each built from a quote, detail or scene already in your story
- A note on each: what it does, which part of the story it echoes, and its risk
- A check that no option adds a fact, quote or moral the reporting does not support
- A flag if the last word would tilt a balanced story toward one side
- A recommended pick, with a one-line reason
Common questions
Can a kicker be a quote?
Often the best one is, as long as the quote is real, verbatim and fairly represents what the person meant. A quote ending gives the last word to a source, so think about who that should be. In a story about a dispute, ending on one side's quote can tilt a piece that was balanced until then.
Should every story have a kicker?
No. Straight news written in inverted pyramid usually ends on the least important information so it can be trimmed from the bottom. Kickers belong in features, profiles, narrative pieces and analysis, where readers finish the story and the ending shapes what they remember.
Will River make up a quote or detail for the ending?
No. Every option comes from your draft. If the strongest ending would need something you do not have, such as a final quote from a source, River says so and suggests asking for it in a follow-up interview rather than inventing it.
What if my current ending is fine?
Then River will say so. It compares your ending with the alternatives and explains the tradeoffs. Sometimes the right fix is cutting the last paragraph, because the story already ended one paragraph earlier.
Write a kicker for your story
Describe what you need, add any files you have, and your workspace opens with the work already underway.