Writer: Seven Unforgettable Ways to End Your Next Novel
Leave your audience satisfied, yet wanting more — simultaneously
There are three critical points in your novel where you CAN’T be wrong: The hook, the beginning, and the ending. The hook draws the reader in (why should I read this book?). The beginning places questions in the reader’s head (what’s happening here and should I care?). The end closes-out the emotional roller-coaster you just sent your reader through.
There’s wiggle-room in the middle, not that you should ever slack-off in your novel, but the middle leaves room to take risk. But not the end, my friend. You try to take bold, original risks with your ending and you’ve got yourself one pissed-off reader if you missed her expectations.
The ending is a calculated surprise.
As readers we expect certain things from our genre. There are tropes each writer must hit, or the book may flop. When you write commercial fiction you’ve got to deliver what the reader expects. We don’t want to bite an apple if we expected a banana.
We want both control and mystery as readers.
Simultaneously, the reader wants to be both surprised and vindicated. Although she’s got certain expectations, your execution on those expectations must be…
