So, let’s talk about writing resolutions.  And I'm not referring to the “I’m going to write 25k words per week” type of resolution, but rather, the "how to wrap up a story" type of resolution.

Ending vs. Resolution. One of the most important distinctions I’ve learned in my study of the writing arts is that resolutions and endings are different animals. Sure, by the time the reader gets to the end of a novel, the story should’ve undergone a resolution. But the resolution is more about what happens after the last page. The reader knows what happened within the bounds of the story, but do the characters live on in ‘Happily Ever After’?

Resolution vs. Resolved. (I believe it was) Bruce Coville at an SCBWI – LA conference keynote who talked about how a story doesn’t need to…in fact, it should not…tie up all the threads. That some of those loose threads should dangle for the reader’s mind to return to long after the book is closed. I feel that many books/movies/TV shows we see these days wrap everything up so nicely that we immediately forget about them. I think this might be true because they don’t have those “danglers” to tickle us for years to come.

Resolution vs. Cliffhanger. Now, leaving open threads doesn’t mean a book has to end in the middle of a scene. Cutting the reader off like that is a dirty trick and it may make them pick up the next book...or it may just piss them off enough to leave you entirely. The best books, even those in the middle of a series, are the ones that leave you with a sense that things have been resolved, yet aren’t wrapped up.

Resolution vs. Real Life. Ultimately, I think great resolutions work because that’s how real life works. Think about a book like going to college. We leave home, study, drink, repeat, and then graduate. And then we move to the next part of our lives. Life doesn’t end once we receive the degree…but the story of our college years does. Even if we look at our whole life as a story, after death, the world continues to turn.

Now, how do you write a killer resolution? Really, I think it just takes care of itself as you focus on the other important aspects of crafting a novel. What I mean is that if your characters and world are vivid enough, if your plot structure is solid, and if your themes are woven beautifully, then the resolution just appears.

And so I hope that even though this post is done, you might think about the content even after you move on to your next blog read. 

We're talking writing resolutions this week. I'm going to call mine Recharge.

I'm just finishing up a trilogy and beginning another project as this year begins. To continue to stay fresh and motivated as a writer, I plan to spend more time on non-writing related activities. I've been taking horseback riding lessons. I'm going to start painting again. And I started out the year with a road trip. For me, diverse experiences refuel my creative tank.

What are your resolutions?

Happy New Year!

As aspiring writers, we spend a lot of time on beginnings. At conferences, critiques are often limited to the first 15 pages, and while querying, agents often make decision on the first few pages. Even after requesting a full manuscript, an agent will never make it to the end unless they are seriously considering offering representation.

What does this mean for writers? It means that we get very little feedback on the ending of our novel until we’re far along in the process. But endings are every bit as important as beginnings.

There is nothing better than racing to the end of a book and turning that last page with a sense of satisfaction of reading a story well-told. I once read that a good ending should be both surprising and inevitable. But how can it be both? That of course, is the question.

One of my favorite endings of all time was the ending of the movie, The Sixth Sense. It was a twist ending, so it was surprising, but it was also inevitable, because every scene of the movie foreshadowed that revelation in some way.

*Spoiler alert- if you haven’t seen the movie- stop here.*

At the beginning of the movie, the psychiatrist played by Bruce Willis is shot. The next scene takes place six months later, and we see the character on his way to meet a new patient, a young boy who sees dead people. Nothing is said about the shooting, and we see the psychiatrist trying to move past it by helping the boy. Bruce Willis’s character wears neutral clothes, and it isn’t until the reveal that Willis’s character is dead that we realize he’s been wearing the same clothes in every scene; that no one talks directly to Willis but the boy; and that the boy has been helping the psychiatrist to move on, not the other way around.

That was a great ending.

I’m not saying that every book should have a twist ending. I think those kinds of endings are the most difficult to pull off, because there is a risk that the reader will feel cheated unless the ending is foreshadowed enough from the beginning.
So how do you foreshadow the ending without giving it away entirely? Here are some things I’ve noticed. It’s by no means a complete or exhaustive list.

Give the character a goal: If the character has a goal that fuels them throughout the story, readers will be invested in the outcome. Does the character accomplish the goal? Does she fail? What are the consequences of achieving the goal? Of failing? The reader anticipates the possible outcomes, which helps make the outcome inevitable.

Introduce the main conflict early in the story: Whether or not the character has a goal, your story needs a central conflict. Introduce it early. It also gives the reader a chance to anticipate potential outcomes. Does the character win? Lose? What are the consequences?

Allow the character to grow: How is the character changed by the events in the story? A good ending will show how the character has been affected by the plot, and how the character has grown and evolved as a result. Someone once suggested to me that at the end of the book, in the climactic scene, the character should do something that he or she would never have done at the beginning of the book. This is a great way to show character growth. Just make sure that your character has earned the right to make this dramatic shift.

Leave hints of the possible outcomes: A little foreshadowing goes a long way. Leave hints throughout your story of the ultimate outcome, so that the reader won’t be blindsided by a twist or event. You have to earn your ending, and it should never feel like it came out of left field. Go easy though. Too much foreshadowing makes your story feel predictable.

Make the outcome different than the character expects or wants: I love an ending where the character doesn’t get what they want or expect, especially if what they get turns out to be exactly what they really needed to begin with. As long as failure was always an option, the ending will be both surprising and inevitable.

Our theme this week is to write about writing resolutions.  As Donna pointed out yesterday, writing endings is hard.  I'm coming up on the end of my latest WIP right now, and my loose ends are like a cat o' nine tails, whipping about and wreaking havoc.

So I'm going to turn this theme on its head and write about another meaning of word.  One that will be familiar to many today, as we jump into the New Year feet first.  The first definition of resolution in my dictionary is this:  a firm decision to do or not to do something.

If it were New Year's Day in my characters' world, what would be my protagonist's resolution?  What is the one thing that she feels she must do--or not do.  If I were to ask her what her pledge is, what would she say?

The character I'm working on now would say her resolution is to stay put.  She has lived through a lot, she has faced some of her worst fears and she has found a safe and comfortable pigeonhole.  (Imagine a modern teenager, thankful to be labeled a "drama geek" and happy to accept that role.  Or a "nerd" who finds the debate team.  Or the "jock" who gets to be quarterback.)  Staying in one place doesn't sound like a very active role, but when you think about the outside forces at work, staying in one place can require a lot of energy.  Imagine treading water in a river, not letting yourself get to either shore or be washed downstream.  So the drama geek has to get the lead role.  The nerd is a terrible debater, but wants to stay on the team.  The quarterback snaps a knee ligament.  How do they maintain their position in the pigeonhole?

And what happens when they can't?

Ultimately, this is just a different way of looking at the key question: what is your main character's goal?  I can't always answer that question right away.  Sometimes, I can only answer it in revision.  But for some reason, I'm able to answer this one, for this character.  What is her New Year's resolution?

What does your character resolve to do this year?

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year." 

Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Writing a satisfying resolution to a story is difficult. Right now, my last chapter on my work in progress says, "Write something really good here."

 Duh.

So, I thought I'd share a good post that sums up all the things to remember about writing strong endings.

Happy New Year!

Here's wishing you a year full of stories to share.