And, now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for! The climax is the pièce de résistance of our gourmet meal of a novel. When we wheel out the climax and lift the serving dish’s gleaming silver lid, this is the bit that gets all the “oohs” and “aahs.” The climax of a story should have readers on the edges […]
April 22, 2012 by 44 Comments Structuring Your NovelThe Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 9: The Third Act
The third act is the moment we’ve all been waiting for—readers, writers, and characters alike. This final section of the story is the point. It’s what we’ve been building up to all this time. If the first and second acts were engaging and aesthetic labyrinths, the third act is where X marks the spot. We’ve found the treasure. […]
March 21, 2012 by 22 Comments Novel EndingsDo You Know the Two Ingredients in a Perfect Book Ending?
Whether your story is a tragedy, a comedy, a “happily ever after” jaunt, or any variety and combination thereof, the one thing you want it to be is resonant. You want readers to close the book with a feeling of satisfaction. Whether they’re laughing, crying, or just thoughtful, you want them to be able to give their heads a […]
January 18, 2012 by 30 Comments Novel EndingsA Must-Know Tip for Writing Slam-Bang Finales
The ending of your novel is make or break territory for your readers. If you’ve convinced them to keep reading this far, you need to have something extra special in store for them come the end. If you disappoint readers in your story’s Climax, you risk losing those readers forever. So how can you dazzle […]
October 23, 2011 by 37 Comments Novel Endings5 Elements of a Resonant Closing Line
As important as the opening line may be to convincing someone to read your book, the closing line is the one that determines how well your story works—and whether or not readers will find your story a satisfying experience. Last month, we talked about the 5 Elements of a Riveting Opening Line, and today we’re […]
October 19, 2011 by 27 Comments Novel EndingsAre All the Pieces in Place for Your Story’s Climax?
The trick to providing readers with a satisfying story Climax is making certain all the pieces are already there. Stories are like puzzles—giant 5,000-piece puzzles you spread all over your table and spend a year putting together. By the time you only have a handful of pieces left—by the time your story’s Climax is coming […]
September 25, 2011 by 25 Comments Writing LifeWhat Makes a Good Book?
What elements make a good book? We all have our own take. Some readers like action, some prefer romance—a little of both. The one thing all readers share is their strong opinions. This week, I conducted a (highly unscientific) survey, via Twitter and Facebook, to discover what you all had to say on the subject. […]
July 17, 2011 by 47 Comments Novel EndingsDeus Ex Machina: Latin for “Don’t Do This in Your Story”
By the time you reach the end of your book, you’re sometimes out of steam, sometimes out of ideas, sometimes sick of your story, and sometimes just plain wrong about how to end it. As a result, you might find yourself walking through yellow caution tape into the pothole of deus ex machina before you […]
May 29, 2011 by 78 Comments Novel EndingsDo You Have to Write Happy Endings?
In the 2003 film adaptation of Peter Pan, Wendy describes the stories she’s been telling the Lost Boys as “adventures, in which good triumphs over evil.” In response, Captain Hook sneers, “They all end in a kiss.” Like Wendy and the Lost Boys, millions of people escape into the world of fiction to find happily-ever-after […]
December 8, 2010 by 9 Comments Novel EndingsExternal and Internal Conflict: The Killer Combination
A general writing rule of thumb states that every page of your story should contain conflict. But sometimes it can be difficult to think up enough conflict to fill the nooks and crannies. After all, your hero can’t be battling it out with the villain on every single page. So what to do? The secret […]
