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Wrap It Up!
Author: Arline Chandler
“Endings and beginnings are of equal importance because the end is in the beginning,” says Larry Rosler, Editorial Director at Boyds Mills Press. “The ending is the inevitable result of what happens at the beginning of the story and every moment in between. Without an ending, there is no story.
“The late Pam Conrad, author of Prairie Songs, among other fine novels, used to say,’ …at the beginning of a story a question is formed in the mind of the reader, which must be answered at the end,’” Rosler continues. “She called this the ‘Main Dramatic Question. For example, 'Will Hamlet kill the king’ or ‘Will the wolf eat Little Red Riding Hood?’”
Think back to the beginning of your story or book. What is the question you have placed in the mind of the reader? How can you effectively answer that question? Sometimes, the main character grows or changes to solve the central problem. Other times, the hero has to figure out his problem by his own wits. Did your beginning hint at those possibilities?
In the book Muledred, by illustrator/author Kathryn Brown the whimsical main character is always late for school. Her grandfather gives Muledred his pocket watch to help her keep up with time, but she must remember to set it five minutes ahead. She forgets. In her dawdling along the way, she loses the watch, wrecks her bicycle, and of course, is late to school. Friends find the watch and offer it back—only if she is on time to school the next day. From the beginning, the reader wonders: Will the watch help Muledred get to school on time? She achieves her goal, but with a twist in her effort to recover her grandpa’s watch.
Sometimes endings are a surprise. “If the reader looks backwards, he will realize the ending makes sense. A surprise ending should be truthful to the character and not contrived,” says Larry Rosler.
Wanda’s Roses by children’s writer Pat Brisson (www.patbrisson.com) tells the story of Wanda, who finds a bare, thorny bush in an abandoned lot and believes it's a rosebush. She is convinced that if she waters and feeds it, the bush will produce beautiful, sweet-smelling roses. Her neighbors tell her that it isn't really a rosebush, but Wanda's persistence pays off and in a surprise ending, she gets beautiful, sweet-smelling roses.
Endings wrap the story up satisfactorily. At least, effective endings do. An ending cannot be too predictable. Subtle clues should appear in the middle of the story, but not so obviously that the reader knows the ending from the beginning. For example, if the story is resolved because a character grows from a lesson—or changes a flaw—let the reader at least be aware that the character has this potential. If a character needs a certain talent or personality trait to solve his problem, plant that talent or trait somewhere along in the story.
In Pam Conrad’s The Lost Sailor, she tells the story of a famous captain who is shipwrecked on an island. For many years, no one comes to rescue him. He learns to survive and builds himself a hut. One night, the hut catches fire and everything the old Captain has is lost. In his darkest moment, he lies on the beach completely devastated.
In early morning, he awakes to see a large ship anchored off the shore. A sailor is rowing toward the beach. Does this sailor suddenly appear and resolve the Captain’s dilemma? No, the fire—which at the time was the darkest moment in the story when everything seemed lost—had been noticed by the passing ship. Something in the story brought about the positive conclusion. If the sailor had simply appeared for no reason, the story would not have had the same impact.
Also, knowing how and when to end the story is important. Larry Rosler explains: “There are times when the writer continues the story after the story is over. End the story where it should end.”
Think about someone who tells a joke, and then explains the punch line. The joke is spoiled. On the same note, readers do not want us to rehash or explain the story after the climax. Also, think through your story to its conclusion before you begin writing. Sometimes writers have a great idea, develop interesting characters, and build an intensive middle—and then realize that they have no place to go with the story. They do not know how to wrap it up!
This column first appeared on DM in 2009, but we think you'll agree that it still has some good information!
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