Rowanvale Books
  • Home
    • Self Publishing Wales
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Not Sure Where To Start?
    • Rowanvale's Five Commandments
    • Meet The Team
    • Manuscript Guidelines
    • Design Galleries >
      • Design Gallery - Chrissie
      • Design Gallery - Rebeckah
      • Design Gallery - Kayleigh
      • Design Gallery - Alex
      • Design Gallery - Alice
    • Meet Our Authors
  • Our Services
    • Pre-Publication Services >
      • Proofreading and Editing
      • Book Illustrations Service
      • Scanning And Typing Service
      • Editorial Assessment
      • Literary Agent Package
      • Beta Readers
      • Custom Book Cover Design Service
      • Developmental Editing
    • Publication Services >
      • Children's Book Publishing
      • Paperback/Hardback Publishing
      • eBook Publishing
      • eBook and Paperback Publishing Package
      • KDP Publishing Package
    • Post-Publication Services >
      • Amazon Analysis
      • ARC and Book Review Service
      • PR Services
      • Marketing And Aftercare
  • Blog
  • Bookstore
    • New Releases
  • FAQs
  • Our Reviews
  • Contact Us

How to End Your Book

5/11/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
‘It’s not how you finish that matters. It’s how you get there’ – Terry Pratchett ​

It can be really tricky to end a book. All your players are in place and you’re finally ready to write that epic battle scene or gut-wrenching goodbye to a favourite character. But for whatever reason, it just isn’t coming together, that sense of gravity that the ending had in your head just isn’t manifesting, and all your attempts feel forced or fake.  
Worry not! All writers, both old and new, have struggled with their endings. Just keep at it and eventually the pieces will fall into place. Mind you, following a few of the tips below wouldn’t hurt either… 

It Has to Make Sense 
Writers from ancient cultures had it easy, didn’t they? If Homer or Ovid were struggling for an ending, it was perfectly acceptable to write: ‘And then the Gods came down and sorted everything out’. Unfortunately, that kind of deus ex machina wouldn’t really fly today. Readers these days want something more from an ending, and one of the best ways to guarantee that is to make sure it makes sense with what came before. Nobody wants the journey that these characters have been on to feel like it didn’t mean anything. If you’re struggling with your ending, just consider the journey of your characters:  
  • What skills have your characters learnt on their journey? How can they be applied to your ending scenario? 
  • How have your characters grown? Is there a resolution to the conflict where a character makes/doesn’t make a decision that they otherwise would have done? 
  • Would your characters make that decision, even after everything they’ve seen? If not, don’t be afraid to redraft! 
The last thing you want from an ending is for it to feel unfulfilling or a like betrayal of your characters. Remember: a smaller-scale ending filled with character moments might be better that a bombastic finale which doesn’t resolve any particular character arc. 
​

It Has to Be an Ending 
Now, there’s no problem with leaving your ending open; a lot of writers do that. The issues arise when your ending isn’t just open, but feels more like a ‘to be continued’. Leaving a few loose ends or plot threads floating around isn’t a bad thing, but if your book ends without its central conflict being resolved, that’s a problem. If you’re writing a series of books with an overarching plot, then obviously you can’t tie everything up at the end of the first book. However, if there isn’t a concrete ending where it feels like significant progress has been made, then that ending will come across as unfulfilling or fake. Remember: if your story doesn’t conclusively end some of the plot points introduced, then your ending will feel unfinished. 
 
Don’t Be Afraid to Re-Draft 
If you’ve decided how a story will end before writing it, then you’ve probably encountered this problem. You can plot out a story piece by piece, blow by blow, and still your ending that was oh-so-perfect a chapter ago now doesn’t work. That’s fine. Writing is a journey, after all, and sometimes you discover interesting things about your characters. However, if your ending doesn’t adapt for these changes then it can leave you feeling underwhelmed. Don’t be afraid to re-draft or re-plan your ending to accommodate for these character developments. Remember: your characters have grown, and your ending should grow with them. 
 
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    January 2021

    Categories

    All
    Book Distribution
    Marketing
    Royalties
    Self Publishing Guide
    Self-publishing Guide
    Social Media
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Services

Children's Publishing
Paperback Publishing
eBook Publishing
KDP Publishing
All Format Publishing
Book Illustrations
Writing Advisor
Scanning & Typing
Editorial Assessment
Proofreading & Editing
Literary Agents
Beta Readers
Custom Book Cover Design
Developmental Editing
Amazon Analysis
ARC Review Service
PR Service
Marketing & Aftercare

Company

Meet The Team
Accessibility
Contact Us

Support

FAQs
Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Cookie Policy
Rowanvale Books is the largest and one of the longest running self-publishing companies in Wales.
Visit us on our Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn below.
UK: 02921 280 895
Intl: (+44) 2921 280 895
e: info@rowanvalebooks.com
Picture

© Rowanvale Books Ltd 2023
Registered in Wales | Company Registration No. 8820249
Website Powered By Digitally Brilliant
  • Home
    • Self Publishing Wales
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Not Sure Where To Start?
    • Rowanvale's Five Commandments
    • Meet The Team
    • Manuscript Guidelines
    • Design Galleries >
      • Design Gallery - Chrissie
      • Design Gallery - Rebeckah
      • Design Gallery - Kayleigh
      • Design Gallery - Alex
      • Design Gallery - Alice
    • Meet Our Authors
  • Our Services
    • Pre-Publication Services >
      • Proofreading and Editing
      • Book Illustrations Service
      • Scanning And Typing Service
      • Editorial Assessment
      • Literary Agent Package
      • Beta Readers
      • Custom Book Cover Design Service
      • Developmental Editing
    • Publication Services >
      • Children's Book Publishing
      • Paperback/Hardback Publishing
      • eBook Publishing
      • eBook and Paperback Publishing Package
      • KDP Publishing Package
    • Post-Publication Services >
      • Amazon Analysis
      • ARC and Book Review Service
      • PR Services
      • Marketing And Aftercare
  • Blog
  • Bookstore
    • New Releases
  • FAQs
  • Our Reviews
  • Contact Us