Fiction Writing Techniques for Chapter Endings
by Mary Kole | Former literary agent, now a freelance editor, writing teacher, and IP/story developer for major publishers and creators.
In this article, we’ll unpack one of our fiction writing techniques for ending a chapter in a way that invites readers to keep turning pages. For any chapter ending, it’s important to connect your reader to your character emotionally. Readers are more likely to lose interest at the end of a chapter because it provides a natural stopping point.
This is why writers need to utilize clever fiction writing techniques to keep readers engaged and carry them over the blank page between one chapter and another. It’s so easy to slide in that bookmark and go to bed … but you want your readers diving in for another chapter.
Fiction Writing Techniques for Finishing a Chapter
I always suggest concluding a chapter with an exciting cliffhanger, or introducing a new character, storyline element, or plot twist. Anything that will create suspense and make readers want to keep going. The idea is that you don't want to close a chapter with the character being in a tranquil state, or else your readers will put down the book and go play video games or doomscroll on social media (more on how to end a chapter here). Leaving ‘em wanting more is one of the most important fiction writing techniques to master.
It is possible to employ something drastic like a cliffhanger at the end of your chapter, but there could be an overlooked opportunity available that’s more subtle. Cliffhangers can be a rather blunt instrument. For example:
Right as she was about to leave, her father—the man she thought had been dead for twenty years—walked through the door.
That ending creates anticipation, right? If this is the last sentence of your chapter, however, then it might be too abrupt. Additionally, if you keep using this same fiction writing techniques over and over again, your readers may become desensitized to it, and its impact will decrease (see some thoughts on the law of diminishing returns as they apply to fiction writing techniques). So what do you do instead?
Fiction Writing Techniques With a Focus on Character
One way to increase the impact of the last scene and give the reader a more complex feeling than simply “surprise” is to finish the chapter with a character focus. You can use a surprise or some other tactic, but then look back to the protagonist and their reaction to the events. We sometimes call these the “reaction shots” or “reaction beats.”
This gives emotional resonance and covers the protagonist's experience of the story. Instead of giving readers the fact (Dad is back), you will give them the interiority and high stakes of the situation: And? So? What does the protagonist think about this? How might their world change as a result of what just happened? And then readers will want to read on to find out whether there are ramifications.
Obviously, the character in our example is not going to unpack everything in one moment, but her immediate reaction, especially if it’s a surprising or unexpected one, will keep readers engaged. A big part of writing is to learn fiction writing techniques to keep drawing readers deeper and deeper into an emotional web.
A character’s response to a situation is also more powerful than just shock or numbness. A strong character-focused conclusion will draw readers in and make them want to continue. Mastering these fiction writing techniques will keep readers turning the pages and could result in an unputdownable book.
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