Greetings, ladies, gentlemen, and those who hate the phrase ladies and gentlemen! Everyone's favorite unreliable source of mediocre advice is back because I'm in Florida for winter break and I don't want to go outside much. It's hot and not enough people are wearing masks. Also, I don't have school! A perfect formula for writing time.

As 2021 comes to an end, I'm gonna be talking about coming to the end of a story. Poetic, I know. Also, side note- I started this work at the beginning of 2021? So it's basically been a year? This is ridiculous. I can't comprehend the passage of time. I quit.

So yeah, ending a story. Like I said in the previous two chapters, if you've got a sequel planned and you want to keep readers interested, cliffhangers are the way to go. The way to go down. Off a cliff. Into the pit of eternal doom, or whatever I said two months ago. But what do you do if your story is a standalone, or if it's the last in the series?

Luckily, I've written some extended stories, and some of them were even good. So you're in the right place. Or something.

So, obviously, you've got your climax. I'm gonna go into English teacher mode for a second, and oh man, my actual English teacher must be thrilled right now. Disgusting. Yeah, the climax is when- to put it simply- all hell breaks loose. Okay, so not exactly how my English teacher phrased it. It's the most dramatic part of the story. It's when suspense and intensity are at an all time high. The make-or-break moment for the antagonist. You want your audience on the edge of their seat and shoving popcorn into their mouths.

And yeah, obviously the climax is important. You should definitely write a climax, and maybe someday I'll even post a chapter on doing that. (Don't get your hopes up.)

But, unless it's a series and you're doing a cliffhanger- the climax isn't where you want to end a story.

Maybe I'm sleep deprived and it's midnight and I just saw Rent so I'm feeling things, but metaphor time. I run sometimes. Nerds can be athletic, even though a lot of the time I am too lazy. So if you're running a mile, or a 5K, or whatever, and you know you're coming up on the end of it- you sprint. Fast as you can, because you don't have to preserve energy for the rest of the run. You can just give everything you have. So you sprint, and then you cross the finish line, and then...

Well, you don't just stop. If you go fast enough, I don't think that's physically possible. Momentum and physics stuff and all that. You realize you made it, and then you kind of slow into a jog until you can stop and chug water like your life depends on it.

So, A. Fan, how does this running lesson tie into writing?

Well, first of all, some of my best writing ideas come from running or other forms of vigorous physical activity, because I'm exhausted and in pain and I need to escape to somewhere in my head so I don't start screaming. That's where some of the best break the rules scenes came from.

But also! The lesson applies to writing as well as running. You can't go as fast as you can, peak that drama level as high as it goes, and then just stop. You have to do that jog, slow down before you stop moving. Then you chug the water, or get validation from readers, to help heal your soul and/or respiratory system.

So after that climax, you need one or two more chapters. And I'm here to try to tell you how to write them.

My favorite move is to summarize the next few months or so into one chapter. Though one stretch of time focuses a lot on the characters and their personal journeys and the main plot, once that peaks, you don't have to flesh out all the other events. Just, sort of mention them. Think about movies, cause they're easier to visualize. Maybe there's one day or two where a ton of stuff happens, so there are many scenes taking place on that day and they all get expanded on, dialogue, detail. And then the next two weeks, nothing major happens. Or maybe stuff that's major, but not that deep, so mentioning it is enough. You don't need to show all the characters reacting to it. That's when the movie is going to take snippets of events in those two weeks and consolidate them into a short montage. Preferably with cool background music.

And you can't exactly play music in the background of your story, but you can play music while you write. It's not for everyone, but it actually really helps me focus. So think, if this were a movie, what song would I put this montage to? Then put the song on loop as you write all the snippets of events. Works wonders.

For example, Julie and Luke from Julie and the Phantoms get into a fight, that's one of your plot points. Yes, this concept pains me, but I've been watching it recently so it was on my mind.

The fight would be the main focus. You would want elaborate, detailed scenes of the two of them, and a lot. Expand on exactly how the relationship fell apart. All the little disagreements and resentment. Then they explode at each other, that's your climax.

And the aftermath? You would want to touch on the aftermath, obviously, but it doesn't need the same attention you gave the fight. Take snapshots and connect them into one scene, rather than writing each one individually. Dedicate a paragraph or two to each event.

Luke tries to go talk to Julie but loses his nerve. Flynn gives Julie a hug and then eggs something of Luke's. The band helps Luke write angry breakup songs. They throw each other wistful glances in the hallways.

I've never actually broken up with anyone, I don't know how this works. But take a bunch of little moments in the aftermath, combine them into a chapter, and that's your montage.

So, figure out how some loose ends get tied up, how the aftermath of the climax goes, and make that a montage. Congratulations, that's an ending chapter.

Now, this isn't the only way to end a story. But it's my favorite and one I find easiest.

Another option is the epilogue. I, personally, am not a big fan of the epilogue. The big climax happens, and then time passes, and the main characters are mostly the same but slightly different. I don't know. I guess it always bothered me that we see their "final selves," but we don't really see the process. Journey being more important than the destination, and all that. But if you like it, do what floats your boat.

Don't use an epilogue just to make your story longer or whatever, because that's really annoying. Does the epilogue have a purpose to your story? Maybe it helps clarify that your epilogue was a lasting victory, and didn't just fall apart the next month. Or maybe it gives some closure to a major subplot. What's the main character doing, how are they dealing with everything that happened? What's up with the side characters? People get weirdly attached to side characters (I am included in this), we'll just make things up about the side character if you don't tell us.

You can also find the middle ground for that, I guess? Put it within the same time frame as the story, but it's a full scene. Building off the montage method, take one of those scenes you would put in the montage- preferably close in time to the climax- and just expand on it.

Also, this isn't a method on its own- you'd have to add it to one of the other three- but I am a sucker for stories that come full circle. Something about ending in the same place you started but feeling completely different. My memory of the original Percy Jackson series is so hazy, but there was that field trip he was on? Where he stabbed his pre-algebra teacher? (And let's be real, we've all fantasized about doing that.) Imagine him just going back to the same place his field trip was to, maybe even with Grover, and that's how the series ended. I like the real ending too, don't get me wrong, but that would also work really well. Or ending with a line that mirrors the opening line. I love that.

So yeah, that's your unreliable, mediocre advice on ending chapters. It's almost the new year, yeah? I said that already. So, new year's resolution, I'm gonna try to update this once a month! Will I? Who knows. School and life and everything might get in the way. But I resolve to update this more often, at least. Which is good news if you actually find my advice helpful.

See you next year! :)