If you’re writing the start or middle of your novel, the following two articles will help:
How to Write the First Chapter of a Novel
How to Write the Middle of a Novel
If you’re working on the ending of your novel, we’ve included 5 tips for you below.
1. Give yourself time
Ending a novel is not easy, and it does not matter whether you were writing by the seat of the pants up to that moment, or were following a detailed outline. With the ending, you need conclude the plot in a satisfactory manner, and tie up loose ends, along with other elements that would leave the readers wanting more.
As such, the first thing you need to keep in mind is that there is no need to rush when writing the ending. Give yourself some time to think carefully about how you want to end the story – how you wish to end the plot, what twists you are going to have (if any), and how you’re going to portray the change in the protagonist and other major characters.
If any of those elements do not feel right, then think about it some more – a week, even a month – until you are certain that the way you want to end the story is the best way possible.
2. Meet reader’s expectations
During the course of the story, you will have introduced different characters, planted different types of Chekhov’s Guns, i.e. elements that are introduced earlier in the story and that need to have a certain pay off by the end of the story.
For example, if the protagonist found a gun in the first half of the novel, and has carried the gun with them all along, then by the end of the story, that gun needs to go off (it doesn’t matter whether it is the protagonist or another person who fires the gun, as long as the gun is fired).
Allowing these pay offs means meeting the expectations of the readers, because you’ve been building those expectations during the course of the story. The same applies to the completion of the plot.
For example, in a murder mystery, the protagonist needs to discover who is the killer by the end of the story – your novel cannot end on any other way. In a romance novel, the hero and the heroine need to finally overcome their differences and issues and get together (either in a Happy For Now – HFN, or in a Happily Ever After – HEA manner).
The major thing you need to achieve is to meet the readers’ expectations – and then surpass them or subvert them. This is what twists are for.
3. Add only one major twist
Why is it only one major twist? Because too many major twists at the end of a story take away the credibility of said story. You can have some minor twists, for sure. For example, a minor character who seemed like an enemy or a side-villain actually turns out to be a generally good person who helps the protagonist.
Or, a character close to the protagonist had a major clue all along but neither the protagonist nor the character themselves realized this (due to prior miscommunication). This can also be less of a twist for the readers if you have informed the readers of the same previously, i.e. that this character probably has information the protagonist needs, but it builds anticipation in the readers for the protagonist to finally get that information.
The major twist needs to be related to the plot. In a murder mystery novel, for example, the twist is usually the fact that someone who was barely a suspect turns out to have committed the crime. In a romance novel, the twist is when the hero or the heroine does something completely unexpected based on their prior characterization (for example, the shy hero makes a public scene declaring his love for the heroine).
In a science fiction novel, the twist is a raising of the stakes – for example, the protagonist has discovered the solution to the problem that was presented by the inciting incident, but now they are in a race against time to prevent a major catastrophe (a bomb exploding, a virus being released into the world, etc.).
Having too many major plot twists will give the readers fatigue from twists, and take them out of the story altogether. Ideally, you would meet the reader’s expectations in the what happens (i.e. the murderer is found, the disaster is prevented, the hero and heroine get together), but surprise them with a twist in regards to how this happens. For example, the protagonist in a murder mystery leads the other characters to believe they have picked the most obvious suspect only to weed out the real murderer. Or, in a romance novel, after the hero and heroine have had their major fight that broke off their relationship, it is not the hero who apologizes with a grand gesture, but the heroine instead.
You might find the following article useful:
How to Write Unexpected Plot Twists
4. Complete character’s arc(s)
The way that you will construct the events that meet the readers’ expectations along with the twists needs to be related to the characterization of the protagonist and the other characters. Retrospectively, these events (expected events and twists as well), need to make sense based on that characterization.
Namely, during the course of the story, you will have already established the protagonist and other major characters, and set them on a path of change (character’s arcs), by making them uncomfortable based on what their beliefs and principles are. In the first half of the novel, up to the culmination point (the climax, when the protagonist is overwhelmed by the level of overall conflict and thinks they will never resolve it), the protagonist and other characters will act according to their current beliefs each time they are presented with a situation that challenges them. This leads to more conflict and does not help the protagonist resolve the main problem.
After the culmination point, the protagonist should start to change some of the beliefs and principles and take different actions and react differently to situations, which will help them come to the solution of the main problem (presented by the inciting incident).
5. Dealing with loose ends
During the course of the story, you will have introduced some minor mysteries. For example, in a romance novel, maybe the heroine received flowers at work in the first half of the novel, from a mysterious admirer. By the end of the novel, the readers believe it was the hero who sent the flowers, but in the final scene, when the heroine thanks him for it (which she had not done previously), the hero says it was not him. Who was it then? This does not need to be resolved.
It is good that you tie up most loose ends in a novel – for example, you can reveal why the protagonist eliminated most suspects in a murder mystery. Or, if the protagonist was receiving mysterious help in small things during the course of the story, you can reveal who was the mysterious helper all along.
But, it is very good to leave some of those mysteries unresolved. For example, let’s say that the protagonist was trying to find a missing person. During the course of the investigation, the protagonist discovers that someone was also asking after the missing person. They try to find said person, but are unable to, and later on, they get more definite leads into finding the missing person, leaving the search for the person who was asking about them aside.
By the end of the novel, who the other person was has not been resolved. But, if you’re writing a series, you can introduce that specific character in the next book. That is why leaving some mysteries unresolved by the end of the novel is a very good idea if you’re writing a series, as these can become plot related in future books.