Knowing when and how to end a scene takes a lot of practice for writers. Even though I’m working on my fifth book, sometimes, I forget to end a scene in the first draft and just keep writing and writing. When I review my work, I realize I need to make transitions. Even when I realize a scene needs an ending, it sometimes difficult to write it. Like I’m composing a tune and the last note sounds off. Here are tips on how to end a scene and keep readers turning pages.
Put tension in the last line of a scene.
This end to a scene is pretty obvious, ending with some kind of cliffhanger. Here’s a scene from Chapter 2 in my third novel A Riddle in the Lonesome October. My protagonist, Rae Riley, who’s twenty, is eating a late supper with her dad. They’re chatting at the dinner table in the family farmhouse. The landline rings, and Rae’s grandmother answers it.
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“That was Jeanine.” Gram placed the landline in its base, concern creasing her normal expression of quiet assurance. “Something’s wrong. Coral’s horse came back to their house without her.”
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But you can’t, and shouldn’t, end each scene with the promise of dire circumstances.
Give readers something to think about.
Because I write mysteries, ending a scene with the thought process of my amateur sleuth Rae not only shows readers how Rae is considering the evidence, it gives them time to think about it too.
In A Shadow on the Snow, my first novel, Rae is trying to figure out on her own who is leaving increasingly threatening notes. In this scene, she’s organized the information she’s gathered so far.
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The stalker was someone who could have been out in the woods late on Wednesday morning and had an opportunity to leave the note between 8:30 a.m. Friday when I left for work and about 1:30 this morning.
After jotting those conclusions in my notebook, I searched social media for any nasty comments about Mal or me. Then I reviewed my previous research. It wasn’t until dawn lit the sky that I finally collapsed on my couch.
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The first paragraph gives readers something to think about. The second shows how committed Rae is to her investigation. And the toll it’s taking.
Asking questions in the mind of the protagonist is a great way to get people to think. The end of this scene is from A Storm of Doubts, and Rae is pondering the latest development in a missing persons case.
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Once out of the neighborhood, I hurried into a jog. Why had the Chief conducted the search? And did finding nothing make The Mystery of the Missing Ex-wife clearer or murkier?
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Hint at what’s to come in the novel.
This kind of end to a scene makes a promise to readers and gives them something to look forward to as they read on. At the end of Chapter 4 in A Storm of Doubts, Rae’s father Mal is explaining to her younger half-brothers that while the family is attending a Memorial Day picnic, they have to stay with an adult because Mal just learned his con man uncle, who hates him, is in town.
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Stroking his cheek with one finger, Micah said, “What about if I have to go to the bathroom?”
“Get Hank,” Dad called over his shoulder.
“What if I can’t find him?”
“Ma can stand outside the door.”
“What if Uncle Troy comes into the bathroom?”
“Ma!” Dad sent out an SOS.
Gram put her arm around Micah. “We’ll be able to find Hank if we need him.” She took hold of his hand. “The fire department’s picnic is at the school, so let’s—”
She looked up to the hill, and we all followed her gaze.
Uncle Troy and China watched us a moment, then turned and disappeared among the evergreen bushes and headstones.
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Here are more tips on writing scenes for novels.
Of the three examples for how to end a scene, which one do think is best at keeping readers turning pages?