All great stories must come to an end - Do's and Don't's by James V. Smith Jr.
Dont's:
- Don't introduce any new characters or subplots. Any appearances within the last 50 pages should have been foreshadowed earlier, even if mysteriously.
- Don't describe, muse, explain or philosophise. Keep description to a minimum, but maximise action or conflict. You have placed all your charges. Now light the fuse and run.
- Don't change voice, tone or attitude. An ending will feel tacked on if the voice of the narrator suddenly sounds alien to the voice that's been consistent for the previous 80,000 words.
- Don't resort to gimmicks. No quirky twists or trick endings. The final impression you want to create is a positive one. Don't leave your reader feeling tricked or cheated.
Do's:
- Do create a sense of 'Oh, wow!'. Your best novelties and biggest surprises should go there. Readers love it when some early, trivial detail plays a part in the finale.
- Do enmesh your reader deeply in the outcome. Get them so involved that they can't put down the novel to go to bed, to work or even to the bathroom until they sees how it turns out.
- Do resolve the central conflict. You don't have to provide a happily ever after ending, but do try to uplift. Readers want to be uplifted and editors try to give readers what they want.
- Do afford reception to your heroic character. No matter how many mistakes they have made along the way, allow the reader - and the character - to realise that, in the end, they have done the right thing.
- Do tie up the loose ends of significance. Every question you planted in the readers mind should be addressed, even if the answer is to say that the character will address that issue later, after the book ends.
- Do mirror your final words to events in your opener. When you reach the ending, go back to ensure some element in each of your complications will point to the beginning, it's the tie-back tactic. Merely create a feeling that the final words hearken to an earlier moment in the story.
YOU ARE READING
The Do's and Don'ts of Writing a Story
HumorFor all you amateur writers on Wattpad that want to write a smashing book. Here are the top tips. There are four different sections in here: PLOT - anything incredibly relevant to a book. The backbone. Everything that, usually, you always need. LANG...
