I’m writing this blog post with a strong sense of nostalgia. I’ve been a blogger for Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers since 2019 (five years!) and have written posts on tension, character development, screenwriting, author photos, social media, and incorporating humor in your writing as well as dozens of other topics. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time on this platform but I’m feeling the need to move on. Specifically I want to devote more time to both my third novel (tentatively called All in the Family, a blend of women’s fiction and psychological suspense) and my new Substack newsletter (tentatively named Work/Play). So it’s only fitting that today I’m exploring endings; that is, guidelines a novelist might consider when choosing how to end their story so they leave the reader satisfied.
Make Your Ending Surprising Yet Inevitable
This is advice I’ve heard my entire career. The way I interpret it is that everything which has gone before should lead to this final conclusion. Don’t add in a character or a situation out of the blue but instead strive to have the ending flow smoothly from everything that came before. The reader should close the book feeling like no other ending would be possible, given what they’ve learned about the character and the story in the preceding pages. Yet, at the same time, you need to shoot for an ending that isn’t hackneyed, one that has a twinge of “huh! Did not see that one coming” but one that, once it’s revealed, makes perfect sense.
The central conflict should be resolved (the couple declares their love for each other; the hero completes the quest; the detective solves the case) and all the questions you raised in the previous pages are answered (What were the thieves really after? Why did she turn down his proposal? What was the secret behind that mysterious letter?)
If it’s a character-driven story, your protagonist should have completed their arc of change. They’ve been transformed and henceforth, will go into the world as a different person (Katniss is no longer a poor peasant, but a hero of the revolution; Oliver Barrett has experienced the poignancy of lost love; Scrooge has seen the error of his ways). If your story is plot-centric, Sherlock has uncovered the culprit, Bond has defeated the bad guy, Odysseus has returned home from his adventures.
My Best Advice to Help You Stick the Landing
Know the ending before you start writing. It’s helpful to know where the goalposts are if you’re going to score. That way, you can introduce plot lines and characters specifically designed to take the story where it needs to go. If you want to solve a murder at the end of your book, you’ll need a victim, a perpetrator, and a detective. If you want to show a woman who embraces motherhood at the end, think about creating a cynical orphan at the beginning who vows to never settle down.
Bookending can tie your theme together. One common technique that resonates with readers is to introduce a motif or an object or an event in the beginning pages and then refer back to it at the end. You might begin with a character starting a new job; at the end, you show him attending his retirement party. In my second novel, Blindspot, the last scene takes place in a cabin in the woods, which figured prominently in an earlier romantic scene, but this time the atmosphere is far more sinister and upsetting.
Try for a deeper emotional resonance to reinforce your theme. You may want to create a psychic distance as you zoom out and reflect on the universal themes your book has addressed, like loyalty to one’s friends or how unfettered power corrupts. Or you may want to zoom in on a more minute detail, evoking an emotional response that touches the reader with its poignancy.
Closed or Open?
Finally, you’ll need to decide whether you want to write a closed ending, one where everything is tied up in a neat bow and all the unresolved questions are answered, or one that leaves the door open to continue the story, either in the reader’s mind or as a set-up for a sequel. In my debut novel Truth and Other Lies, the denouement is implied rather than shown, since in my mind the reader should be clear about what’s about to happen. For a series like the Harry Potter books, one adventure may be tied up in a nice bow but the ending pages will hints at future challenges to come.
That’s it for me. I wish everyone continued success with their writing and hope you will visit my website at https://maggiesmithwriter.com and sign up to receive my Substack newsletter so we can stay in touch.
In other words, I’ve left the door open for you. Hope to see you on the other side.
Blog post photo courtesy of boygovideo/Getty Images/Canva Pro
