Knowing how to write a great ending is kind of like being a good lover. While the climax is important, it’s not the only part of the process. A good lover understands the importance of foreplay and afterglow.
In terms of writing, these are the parts of a great ending:
1. The second point of no return/ inciting incident
2. The climax
3. The resolution or denouement.
The second inciting incident is a turn of events that transitions the book from the middle to the end. It is the event that makes the final conflict inevitable. Unlike the first inciting event, it is not always a negative event, like Luke’s family being killed. It is often the solution to a riddle or the answer to a question, or a discovery, like how to get into the bad guy’s lair, that leads to the final conflict. It could be as simple as passing a deadline of some sort. In a mystery it is often a final clue that makes everything else fall into place. It is an essential part of any story, because without that turning point, the reader will be asking, why didn’t this resolve itself a long time ago?
The climax is the dramatic portrayal of the final conflict that leads to the ultimate resolution. In most fantasy and science fiction, it is a final battle where good (or, in rare cases, evil) prevails. In a mystery, it is the scene where the detective gathers everyone into the parlor for the who-dun-it revelation. In an action or thriller, it might be a fist fight or a gun fight between two people.
What makes a climax great?
Surprise: A great climax should not be predictable. While the reader might know, based on the genre, what is going to happen in the end, how it happens should be a refreshing surprise. The reader should be left saying, “I never guessed the hero would defeat the villain that way.”
Inevitability: At the same time, however, once the ending is revealed, the climax should also feel inevitable to the reader. After the reader says the sentence above, they should also say, “But of course that’s how it had to happen, because of blah blah blah . . .” If the reader is confused by the solution to the problem, they will be disappointed. You have to have laid the groundwork for the climax thoroughly enough throughout the book so that it is the only way the book could have ended.
Believability: Related to inevitability is believability. The climax needs to fit perfectly in the causal chain of plot events. A solution that comes out of nowhere and is too easy to be believed is just as disappointing as a confusing climax.
Unique: Something I’ve been noticing about Hollywood movies lately is that a lot of them end with a fist-fight. And it gets really boring after awhile. Make your climax unique and smart. Doesn’t mean it can’t have action, and readers of genre fiction certainly expect action in a climax. But don’t reduce your characters to apes. Put interesting, devious weapons in their hands and make the conflict different from the typical hollywood ending.
Emotional Resonance: By the time we get to the climax, the reader should be thoroughly emotionally invested in your characters. Nowhere is this more important than during the climax. The reader needs to be on the edge of their seat, biting their nails, aching for the main character to succeed. The more danger the protagonist is in, the more we will be rooting for them. Stack the odds against the main character right up until the very last moment.
Finally, a book needs a sort of cool-down period after the climax, known as the denouement. Remember at the end of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, when Frodo et al return to the Shire to find that everything, including themselves, has changed? That is the importance of the denouement; to show how resolution brought about by the climax has affected the lives of the main characters. Will they pick up again and live happily ever after? The denouement can leave the reader with a sense of hope, by showing a return to ordinary life, planting of crops, birth of a child–it reminds us that life goes on in spite of all the danger and hardship. Or it can leave us with a sense of loss, that life will never be the same again, as in LOTR. Ultimately, the denouement should pull everything together and leave the theme of the book firmly embedded in the reader.
An important point that I’m learning in the process of writing a series is that every book, even if it is part of a larger story, must have a satisfying ending with all of these parts. Even when the story goes on, you must resolve the central question of each particular book. The denouement is equally important; even if the danger hasn’t passed, you need to show the characters getting a breather, even while weaving in the cliffhanger for the next book.
This post concludes Beginnings, middles, and ends, but there’s still a lot more to cover about plot. Next Monday, I’ll discuss the difference between a plot arc and a character arc, and how to get the two to work together in 101 TIWIK #18: The Struggle Between Plot and Character.
This post is part of a series of 101 Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Wrote My First Book. Start reading the series at the beginning.
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