The Complicated Story Ending

The ending of your story should be just as engaging as the beginning hook. It should be emotionally satisfying, and tie up most if not all loose ends. If the book is part of a series, it still needs to stand on its own, and answer all major story questions.

Sound familiar?

These are the (unofficial) rules about story endings that all writers know or should know. We follow these rules to ensure a great ending to our story in the hopes that readers will stick around for the next book in the series, come back to read our next standalone title, or even pick up one of our backlisted ones.

Why Endings are Important.

The end of any book is important. The end is the last impression the reader has of our stories. It's the part of the story that is the freshest in their mind and which they rate and judge the book as a whole. A great ending is hard to write but necessary to attempt.

Although I know what makes a great ending I still struggle to execute it at times. I obsess over it, trying to perfect it.

Makings of a Great Story Ending:

• Twists and surprise endings: Surprising the reader with a revelation that was foreshadowed throughout the story. i.e. It was right under their noses the whole time.
• Theme: Tying in the overall theme or message of the book into the ending to add extra significance.
• Answer the major story question: Will they fall in love? Will they find the murderer? Will they ever learn to trust one another?
• Character change and growth: The main characters must begin the story a certain person and by the end of the story the character is a changed man or woman. The events in the story, the obstacles, the triumphs and failures all mold the character into a different person by the end.
• End at the end: Once the major story questions are answered and the character achieves the story goal then the story is over. Ending the story before questions are answered and characters change or long after can disappoint the reader.

Currently I attempt to rewrite the ending of my latest WIP and hope it all falls into place. Knowing how to write the perfect ending to your story doesn't make it any less complicated, in my opinion. However, my motto is: If it's too easy, you ain't doing it right.

What I've Learned that May Help You and Your Writing



Over the past few months I've been soaking in a lot of creative writing information as part of building and improving my writing skills. I recently challenged myself to write the best book I've ever written, and to attempt that personal feat required many hours of reading, analyzing, researching and (of course) writing.

I've had some epiphanies during the course of writing my post-apocalyptic novel (Before the Darkness) that I would like to share. These are things that I already knew about creative writing (I'm an author. Of course, I knew :/) but only really understood when reading these books or blogs.

What I've learned

Source

Metaphors and allegories can help strengthen a story and provide an engaging writing/reading experience. Major plot twists or twist ending should tie into the overall mood and/or theme of the story for a greater emotional impact.	The sci-fi novella Wool by Hugh Howey
Incorporating universal human emotion into every facet of your writing builds strong characterization and helps the reader relate to the characters, conflicts and particular circumstances.	The erotic romance novel Destiny for Three by Lilly Hale
All reviews, be they positive or negative, ranting or raving, short or long, are still beneficial to the author. A reader may show interest in the very thing another reader finds unappealing in a book. It's all subjective. At least the book provoked some kind of emotional response to push readers into discussing it.	Readers' comments about Ranting authors over negative reviews from book reviewers
To easily find areas in your book that are telling instead of showing search for the word WAS. Using was in a sentence usually indicates the lack of effectively describing something or someone in your writing.	Noble Romance Blog
Write what you love and the rest will come to you. Instead of focusing on getting to the end of your story, make small goals and complete those first. It's never too early to start talking about your work.	From various creative writing books, blogs and magazines:

These are just of few of the things I've grown to really understand over the past few months just by reading books, blogs, readers' comments on blogs and magazine. Have you had an epiphany lately?

Before the Darkness Progress

Currently, I am at 12,500 words in my latest WIP, Before the Darkness. The way the story is going I expect to finish it somewhere around 20k-30k words, although it can be longer. I can't seem to find the time to work on it as much as I want to. I hope this weekend I can write a big chunk of it because I want to finish it before the end of the year.

The elevator pitch:

After an asteroid strikes Earth, sending a wall of ash and other debris into the atmosphere, Elliot meets fellow survivor Adam and together they take advantage of the next few hours, learning to appreciate their second chance at life and live it to the fullest.

The problem:

The research.  Asteroids are tricky to write about, especially an asteroid impact with Earth. Even though the story focuses more on the inner conflict of the main characters, the impact is what sets the story in motion and contributes to the story's tension, adding suspense, raising the stakes and providing exterior conflict. Therefore, it's very important that the impact and the effects of impact are realistic.

I hope to finish the first draft before the end of the year. Hell, some writers can do it in thirty days. That would be nice!