It seems only fitting that as we near the end of the year, we’ve reached the last few posts in our #GrowAnAuthor series. It’s almost like we planned it that way!

Today, we’re going to finish our talk on story endings.

Story endings are made up of two main components. The climax, which we discussed last week, is the point in the story that everything has been building toward. The tension and the stakes should rise to their apex, and then POW! The hero comes face-to-face with their greatest, final obstacle—a great hulking monster of a problem standing between them and victory.

Once this showdown has taken place—win or lose—we have a responsibility to leave the reader with an image of what life is like now for our characters, and what it may look like in the near future. We call this the denouement.

I love the imagery in this definition. As you’ve drafted your story, how many times has it knotted itself up on you? How often have you wondered what it will all look like when it’s done? I’ve felt that way plenty, and it helps me understand the great need for a final unknotting. An untying of all the hidden moments, for both you and your reader.

As a writer, penning the denouement feels a little like a victory lap. The hard work is done and what’s left to explain is most likely the inevitable outworking of everything that’s come before it. If you’ve set this moment up correctly, the momentum of your story and the characters who’ve colored it, will fill out your final scenes for you. You need only ask yourself a few important questions:

Has your story problem been solved?

We talk a lot about story problems here at Go Teen Writers and it’s because without a major problem, there is no story. But by now, by the time you’re setting out to draft your final moments, that story problem should have been addressed. If you find yourself still trying to defeat the villain or solve the crime, you’re not quite ready to wrap things up for your reader. You need to spend some more time on that final battle.

Have you fulfilled your promises to the reader?

The very act of drafting a novel ensures you’ve made a ton of promises to your reader. Some of them are big, fat promises: you, the author, promised to give them a satisfying read; you promised to solve the problem you presented at the front end of your story; you promised to give them a hero worth following; you promised them a feel, a vibe, a tone consistent with its genre; and because you did all that, you have inherently promised the reader a satisfying resolution.

Some of the promises you made to the reader are smaller. Every little mystery you set up, every unanswered question you’ve let linger in those pages carries with it the assumption that by the end of the story, the reader will have an understanding of all that happened. Take some time to consider these moments before you draft your denouement. What loose ends have you left hanging? What do you need to clarify as you enter these final scenes?

If you choose to leave a few loose ends, very common with a series, you need to make that decision consciously, and you need to have a very good reason for doing so.

How have your characters changed?

Writing your denouement is all about reflection. How has your hero changed as this story has unfolded? How about your secondary characters? Your villains? What’s different for each of them now that we’ve reached the end?

Every good story features a main character who changes. Oftentimes for the better, but not always. Your denouement should look for ways to show this transformation in all its glory. Think about Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. The story took him from a miserly, selfish, grumpy penny-pinching soul and turned him into a generous, loving, joyful creature with Christmas always in his heart. The entire denouement is dedicated to showing you what that looked like.

But it wasn’t just Scrooge who changed. His metamorphosis drastically affected those in his immediate circle. They became the beneficiaries of his generosity and their lives were transformed as well. All of this is touched on in those final moments of the story.

How has your story world changed?

The events of the climactic moment are likely to change more than just your characters. It’s possible that the final battle, that the entire journey even, has changed your story world.

What does that look like? How can you, creatively, show one final image of that to your reader. This isn’t just a question for fantasy writers either. Even contemporary and historical worlds are affected by a hero’s journey, and it’s wise to consider just what that looks like here at the end. Your reader is curious.

One of my favorite denouements happens at the end of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. The climax involves a battle of sorts, resulting in a major character’s death. After *REDACTED* has died, there’s some descending action where Harry has a few conversations that help the reader slide some rogue puzzle pieces into place.

After that, we’re taken to a funeral where Harry has a conversation with someone who has fairly recently become very important to him. During this talk we see that Harry has been utterly changed by what happened in the climactic scene. His own desires for comfort and a future will now be sacrificed so he can focus on the task set before him.

This collection of short scenes moves along at a fairly fast clip but we’re given a good look at our hero’s current state, and it’s backlit by a glimpse into his immediate future.

We learn, through both dialogue and internal monologue, that Harry plans to leave everything behind to pursue his enemy, but his friends refuse to let him do it alone.

It’s a fitting end because the story problem itself has been dealt with, we understand where things stand with our hero and his world, and we’re looking forward to his next, most dangerous adventure, satisfied that we’ll get to see his friends alongside him.

Although the author has withheld certain facts from the reader, we don’t close the book feeling like she’s broken her promises to us.

She gave us a problem, she solved it, and in the final scenes, she left us hungry for more.

That’s exactly the kind of story we all want to write, and the denouement is your last chance to leave an image with your reader. Let it be a satisfying one.

Tell me, have you ever written a denouement before? If so, what did you find difficult? If not, are there any questions I can answer for you?

Shannon Dittemore is an author and speaker. Her books include the Angel Eyes trilogy, a supernatural foray into the realm of angels and demons, as well as the fantastical adventure novel Winter, White and Wicked. Its sequel, Rebel, Brave and Brutal is due out January 10, 2023.

Shannon’s stories feature strong female leads grappling with fear and faith as they venture into the wilds of the unknown. She’s often wondered if she’s writing her own quest for bravery again and again.

It’s a choice she values highly. Bravery. And she’s never more inspired than when young people ball up their fist and punch fear in the face.

To that end, Shannon takes great joy in working with young writers, both in person and online at Go Teen Writers, an instructional blog recognized by Writer’s Digest four years running as a “101 Best Websites for Writers” selection.

For more about Shannon and her books, please visit her website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.