Tag: Advice on writing endings

Writing the Wrap Up Right

Writing the Wrap Up Right

Writing the wrap up right is just as critical to writing a satisfying ending as crafting a thrilling climax. The wrap up, or denouement, is the section of the ending after the climax in which loose ends, or most of the loose ends, are tied up and explained. A well-constructed wrap up to a mystery is especially crucial. Readers expect all the clues and red herrings to be explained and the detective’s reasoning that led to the successful solution to the crime or crimes to be laid out in a clear and entertaining way. The risk in the mystery wrap up is bogging it down with unnecessary details and boring readers before they can finish the story. Here are a few techniques I’ve learned as I’ve written both mystery short stories and a novel.

Explain some clues and red herrings before the wrap up.

Because most of my stories are fair-play mysteries, I present the clues and red herrings to readers as the detective discovers them. That also means readers are let in on some of my detective’s thought processes. So instead of explaining every clue at the denouement, I have my detective reveal the significance, or lack thereof, of certain clues where it makes sense in the process of her investigation.

But I ran into trouble when I wrote the short story “Bovine”. Readers follow this story from the POV of the villain. Only at the end do they find out what the detective was up to while the villain was at work on his crime. That meant one big ol’ explanation at the wrap up. So how could I make the wrap up interesting while also clearly outlining the solution?

Have other characters participate in the denouement.

Of course, when a detective reveals his solution, there has to be some kind of audience. But gone are the days when Hercule Poirot could talk for paragraphs and pages without comments from the members of his audience. In “Bovine”, I have the investigator explain what the villain was planning to an interested party. And I make it as much of a dialogue, rather than a monologue, as I can to hold readers interest. To help that goal …

Add humor if appropriate.

This won’t work for every story, but it does in mine. While the investigator speaks, he adds dry or sarcastic observations. For example, the investigator spoke to a colleague of the villain to get background information. Earlier in the story, the villain made condescending remarks about this colleague. In the denouement, readers learn what the colleague’s opinion of the villain is: “By the way, Ms. Novak seems to’ve been waiting her whole life to dish the dirt on Harrison Sharpe.” The interested party responds with “The entire New York literary community has.”

My hope is that these humorous additions will keep the wrap-up from becoming too dry or boring. But, above all else, when wrapping up a mystery …

Make the Explanation Clear

This is not the time to show off your literary skills or try some avant-garde technique. Keep your prose to the point: how the detective solved the mystery. Remarks from the characters who are listening to the explanation and humorous asides can’t confuse or slow the denouement.

Your turn. What wrap ups have your read or watched that were especially effective?

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Three Elements That Every Ending Must Have

Three Elements that Every Ending Must Have

No matter what genre you write, the three elements every ending must have are the climax, the denouement or wrap-up, and the last lines. If one of these three things are missing, readers walk away unsatisfied, perhaps not realizing why, just aware that a particular story let them down, and they will tell their friends that it “didn’t have a good ending.”

Since I’m focusing on endings this month, I’m reposting the explanations for these three elements of an ending so that in future posts, you’ll understand what I’m writing about.

The Climax

My Webster’s dictionary defines the climax as “the point of greatest intensity in a series of events.” As I wrote to the climax of my novel, A Shadow on the Snow, I had to make sure that I kept building the tension by raising the stakes for my main character. Half way through the novel, I have an action sequence that puts a big twist in the plot. I wanted to make this scene suspenseful and exciting, but not more than the climax. It’s like a fireworks display. It’s all right to set off some really big fireworks in the middle, but I need to save the most impressive ones for the end.

The Denouement

Or the wrap up, where the loose ends of the plot are tied up. This is especially important in a mystery. In the climax, the detective reveals who the culprit is. In the denouement, he must explain how he solved the mystery. The danger with this part is I will write on and on, drawing out the ending, deflating the thrill of the climax. 

That was a complaint of many people who watched The Return of the Kingwhen it came out in 2003. The climax was when the One Ring was destroyed in the flames of Mount Doom. The movie continued for fifteen or twenty minutes, resolving character developments and plot points. I didn’t mind because I’d read the novel and expected these scenes. But other people thought the denouement dragged on too long.

On the other hand, I don’t want to end too abruptly. We’ve all watched shows or read books where the storyline doesn’t so much ends as quits, as if the writer lost interest. My kids pointed this out when they watched The Rescuers Down Under. In this Disney cartoon, a little boy is kidnapped by a poacher, who is hunting a rare bird. The boy is rescued, the bird saved, but my kids felt they should have shown the boy being reunited with his mother. It was a loose end left dangling.

Last lines

I struggled with this in my novel because it’s so important. It’s literally the last thing people read and probably one of the things that sticks with them. Whatever mood, message, or feeling I’m trying to convey throughout the story should be there in the last lines.

For my short story, “A Rose from the Ashes”, I wanted an ending that would leave a smile on the face of readers. The climax is very emotional as my MC confronts the three men who could be her father and the one who tried to murder her mother. I wanted the last lines to be lighter but still carry the deep meaning of Rae finding her father. 

I was inspired by the way Alfred Hitchcock ended The Man Who Knew Too Much. Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day play American parents, unwittingly involved in an international assassination plot. Their son Hank is kidnapped, and they chase the criminals across Europe, thwart the scheme, and rescue Hank unharmed in England. A few of their English friends have been waiting for them at their hotel. When the reunited family walks in, Jimmy Stewart says, “Sorry we were gone so long, but we had to pick up Hank.” I like how that line is perfectly honest, but the audience knows the true meaning while the friends only take it at face value.

What books or movies have great endings? Which ones have lousy ones?

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The Three Key Elements of an Ending

I seem to find more advice on how to begin a novel than how to end it. Both parts of the story are critical. A stellar beginning entices readers to keep reading. But a phenomenal ending makes them reread and wanting the author’s other stories. As I’ve wrestled with finishing my YA mystery, A Shadow in the Snow, I’ve learned a few lessons about the three key elements of an ending.

The Climax

My Webster’s dictionary defines the climax as “the point of greatest intensity in a series of events.” As I wrote to my climax, I had to make sure that I kept building the tension by raising the stakes for my main character. Half way through the novel, I have an action sequence that puts a big twist in the path of the plot. I wanted to make this scene suspenseful and exciting, but not more than the climax. It’s like a fireworks display. It’s all right to set off some really big ones in the middle, but I need to save the most impressive ones for the end.

The Denouement

Or the wrap up, where the loose ends of the plot are tied up. This is especially important in a mystery. In the climax, the detective reveals who the culprit is. In the denouement, he must explain how he solved the mystery. The danger with this part is I will write on and on, drawing out the ending, deflating the thrill of the climax.

That was a complaint of many people who watched The Return of the King when it came out in 2003. The climax was when the One Ring was destroyed in the flames of Mount Doom. The movie continued for fifteen or twenty minutes, resolving character developments and plot points. I didn’t mind because I’d read the novel and expected these scenes. But other people thought the denouement dragged on too long.

On the other hand, I don’t want to end too abruptly. We’ve all watched shows or read books where the storyline doesn’t so much ends as quits, as if the writer lost interest. My kids pointed this out when they watched The Rescuers Down Under. In this Disney cartoon, a little boy is kidnapped by a poacher, who is hunting a rare bird. The boy is rescued, the bird saved, but my kids felt they should have shown the boy being reunited with his mother. It was a loose end left dangling.

Last lines

I’ve struggled with this with my novel because it’s so important. It’s literally the last thing people read and probably one of the things that sticks with them. Whatever mood, message, feeling I’m trying to convey throughout the story should be there in the last lines.

For my short story, “A Rose from the Ashes”, I wanted an ending that would leave a smile on the face of readers. The climax is very emotional as my MC confronts the three men who could be her father and the one who tried to murder her mother. I wanted the last lines to be lighter but still carry the deep meaning of Rae finding her father.

I was inspired by the way Alfred Hitchcock ended The Man Who Knew Too Much. Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day play American parents, unwittingly involved in an international assassination plot. Their son Hank is kidnapped, and they chase the criminals across Europe, thwart the scheme, and rescue Hank unharmed in England. A few of their English friends have been waiting for them at their hotel. When the reunited family walks in, Jimmy Stewart says, “Sorry we were gone so long, but we had to pick up Hank.” I like how that line is perfectly honest, but the audience knows the true meaning while the friends only take it at face value.

What books or movies have great endings? Which ones have lousy ones?

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