Introduction to Plotting the Novel's Ending

If you have read the articles on Plotting the Novel's Beginning and Plotting the Middle, you will have noticed that the two stages are quite different.

The third stage, plotting the end of a novel, is completely different again.

The casual reader of a novel probably won't even notice the transitions from one stage of the book to the next, but you now will.

To make this final step in plotting a novel simpler, I have divided endings into four steps.

I will run through them in detail in just a moment, but first a few thoughts on endings in general.

Plotting the Novel's Ending - An Overview

In the first two parts of this guide to plotting a novel, you took a perfectly decent human being and made their life hell. You will be pleased to know that it is time to start turning things around for them at last.

The beginning was all about providing the central character with an overall goal and making them decide to act on it.
The middle then showed them taking the action - or, more correctly, a whole series of mini actions.
The ending, broadly speaking, deals with the consequences of these actions.

A good ending should satisfy the readers - reward them, if you like, for sticking with the story. A satisfying conclusion to a novel happens when...

The ending is fitting. In other words, the characters should get what they deserve - the good should be rewarded and the bad made to pay for their ill deeds.
The ending is definitive. This means that the question asked at the start of the novel - will the hero succeed in achieving their overall goal? - should be answered.

Of course, there are degrees of fittingness and definitiveness. (Plotting the novel should never be about presenting things in black and white terms - not if you want the novel to have any subtlety.)

The good should be rewarded, yes, but that doesn't mean to say that their experiences won't also leave them with scars.

The ending should be clear and definitive, yes, but that doesn't mean that you have to spell out everything for the readers. Leaving something to their imaginations and their curiosity, or even ending with a touch of ambiguity, is not a bad thing.

Plotting the Novel's Ending In Detail

"Conclusions are the weak point of most authors, but some of the fault lies in the very nature of a conclusion, which is at best a negation."
- George Eliot

Okay, now it's time to look at the four steps of plotting a novel's ending in detail. The beginning and ending, remember, accounted for 3 steps each. Here are the final four steps...