Writing books seem to give less attention to endings than they do to other elements of fiction. Yet a satisfying ending is a necessity. An unsatisfying ending will produce negative reviews, eliminate word-of-mouth referrals, and ruin your chances of getting repeat readers. Nobody reads a mystery to get to the …
Tag: Elements of Fiction
Avoid late character introductions
There’s a lot that goes into crafting a satisfying ending to a novel. So I’ll take a little longer covering this point than some of the others. One problem I sometimes see, even in published books, is a new character suddenly introduced near the end for no apparent reason. Any …
Understand the difference between a twist and a trick
Your novel’s ending must be inevitable, but preferably not predictable. Yeah, that’s easier said than done. This is hard to plan for as you’re writing. Editing is the place to make it happen. Because once you’ve written the ending, it’s much easier to go back and layer in the plants …
The end of your novel is about characters
Lots of stuff is going on at the end of your novel. There’s action and revelation and emotional upheaval. But it all must be presented in terms of what’s happening to the people. Ideally, your characters will be proactive. There’s probably a whole other blog post in that. Characters who …
Don’t rush the ending of your novel
I’ve spent a lot longer on this matter of the satisfying ending than any other point on the Elements of Fiction Editing Checklist. That’s because it’s so critical. A bad ending can ruin an otherwise great book. But I’m nearly done with endings, and next time we’ll move on to …
Choose your novel’s structure
We’ve completed the Plot segment of the Elements of Fiction Editing Checklist, and now we move on to Structure. Traditionally, writing instructors have advocated a structure for novels modeled after that used in theater, which is why this item is on the checklist: ☐ Key events or turning points form …
An alternative to the five-act structure
The traditional three- and five-act structure is great for writers who outline. For those who don’t, not so much which is why it’s not a huge problem if you look at this item on the checklist and can’t really check it off: ☐ Key events or turning points form a …
Avoid the unnecessary prologue
I took a week off for the Realm Makers conference. Had a fabulous time with all my fellow SpecFic writers, and got some good feedback on my class about representing multiple languages in speculative fiction. Based on that feedback, I’ll be putting the information into a white paper later this …
Find the right starting point for your novel
Figuring out how to open your story is difficult, because there might be any number of “right times” to begin your story. But in the Elements of Fiction Editing Checklist I have avoided phrasing things in the negative, so rather than saying “don’t start at the wrong time,” I put it …
A strong opening will grab readers
Many readers, whether in a shop or on Amazon, will make a decision about whether to buy a book by reading the first few pages. If you’re lucky, they read pages. They may only read the first few lines. And if you are seeking traditional publication, whether through an agent …