Table of Contents
What a Good Ending Should Do
What the end of the book should not do, how to end a book (and get readers talking about it), great conclusion examples, how to write a book conclusion (& end your story the right way).
Here’s the thing about ending your book the right way:
If the reader got all the way to the conclusion, that means they read the whole book , they liked it, and now they want to wrap this up.
So don’t ramble on and on. Give them what they want.
The goal of a great ending is to tie everything together, neatly summarize your book, and then provide a specific call or calls to action for your reader.
Don’t overcomplicate the conclusion—just let it do its job, and it’ll work great.
- Clearly summarize the book: That’s the best thing you can do, not only to deliver value to the reader but also to make the book memorable (and recommendable).
- Address any lingering issues and close any open loops: The reader should feel like everything is wrapped up in a bow.
- Provide a call to action: In essence, tell the reader what to do.
- Give even more: Point them to any additional resources you have that could help them.
- A conclusion should NOT introduce any new content: This should only be a summarization of what’s in the book. You can have new stories or anecdotes, of course.
- A conclusion should not be too long: The rule of thumb is that it should be the shortest chapter in your book.
- A conclusion should not break faith with the reader: Don’t tell them “operators are standing by” or try to sell them in a preposterous way that turns them off.
At Scribe, we like to outline the conclusion using this template:
- Grab the reader with a great hook
- Restate the book’s thesis
- Summarize the chapters
- Call to action: what should the reader do when they finish the book?
This is one of the most important writing tips for any Author:
Every chapter should start with a hook. Even the last one.
This can be a story that summarizes the book, or you can close a loop from earlier in the book. But the point is, the reader should feel like they do at the end of a good movie, where everything feels nicely summarized with a satisfying ending.
By this time, you’ve mentioned a lot of different topics. Usually, the easiest and most compelling way to begin the conclusion is by referring back to one (or more) of them. Or you can add another dimension to a story you already told or tie up loose ends.
2. Restate the book’s mission/thesis
This is pretty simple, but make sure you restate the book’s thesis. From the first chapter to the final chapter, your book’s primary message should be consistent.
3. Summarize chapters
This is optional, but most good nonfiction books do this. They summarize the key points so succinctly and clearly that the reader can’t help but understand your lessons the same way that you do.
You want the reader to think about and talk about your book to their friends the same way you would if you could be there yourself. The best way to make sure they do that is to tell them exactly what to say.
That’s what this section is for.
Specifically, it’s about nailing whatever you want your readers to remember about your book. What are the takeaways that really matter? How do you want them to talk about them?
If your book is a memoir, your conclusion also needs to complete your story arc, tying up any plot threads and subplots in your storyline so you don’t leave any cliffhangers.
You might not summarize the plot points of each chapter literally, but you still want to remind your readers of the journey.
4. Call to action
What’s the first thing you want your reader to do when they finish the last word and put the book down? This is usually the final word, and it’s what you should leave them with on the final page.
Note on the call to action
A call to action (CTA) is not required in a conclusion, but most nonfiction books have them. It’s usually the very last bit of the conclusion, the final word to readers, and it ensures they know what you want them to do.
Authors generally adopt a different tone with the CTA—one that’s not just more explicitly inspirational but that’s also framed as an imperative. The underlying message of the call to action is straightforward and empowering: now that you have all the tools, go out there and use them.
This is good, and readers tend to like it. Some authors feel uncomfortable including such a direct appeal to readers because they may feel it’s unprofessional, and they can be right (sometimes).
Authors often want to be too inspirational in the introduction, and not enough in the conclusion. But this is when you can really tell your reader what to do, and be very direct.
What you do not want to do is write a glorified sales brochure. The last thing you want to do here is try to pitch them something of yours to buy.
Think about it—you’ve spent the whole book earning their trust, and now you ruin it with a bad ending that tries to sell them?
Don’t do that. Most importantly because it doesn’t work very well.
Readers are smart. They’re interested in your topic because they’ve picked up your book. If they’ve made it this far, then they’ve already read an entire book’s worth of your knowledge and expertise.
They can form their own conclusions when it comes to contacting you.
That said, if you do want to suggest they contact you, do so authentically—from a place of trying to help them , not yourself. Tell them you want to hear from them, or that you want to help them move forward.
If your website or the name of your firm is in your bio or About the Author page , that’s sufficient. Give them your email in the conclusion if you like—but only if you’re sincere about responding to them.
Ultimately, your goal is to provide so much value to them that they respect and admire you and your work, and choose to contact you because they have sold themselves on wanting to, not because you sold them.
Some authors want a more explicit CTA, such as directing readers of the book to a specific landing page. This can work, as long as the page you’re directing them to gives the reader something.
But it has to be something they’ll see as extra, not something they’ll feel should have been in the book. For example, a map or chart that is additive, but not crucial, to the content is great.
What you don’t want to do is give them something on a landing page that makes them think, “Why isn’t this in the book?” That just breaks faith with the reader.
1. Syndicating is a B*tch, by Bruce Petersen
“The most tangible stress of managing a syndication deal happens prior to close. You’re taking care of a lot of moving pieces and are responsible for a lot of money for a lot of people, and that’s a lot. Once the deal closes, that’s it. There’s not a lot happening at that point.
That doesn’t mean the stress has ended. The more experience you gain doing deals, the more prepared you’re going to be for the weird things that come up—and something will always come up. Remember when I lost $5.2 million to OFAC? I was completely blindsided that first time, and as I’m writing this book, it happened again. Yep.”
This is a fantastic example of how to start a well-structured conclusion. The author leads by talking about closing a deal, just as he’s closing his book. There’s a parallel structure there that orients the reader to the end of the book.
He also refers back to something that happened earlier in the book, then leads into a story about the same thing happening again. The new story hooks the reader while reminding them of an important point he made earlier.
2. Breakthrough Leadership Team, by Mike Goldman
“You’ve just finished reading this book, and your head is swimming with ideas. You’re probably wondering, Where do I begin?
I suggest you start by measuring where you are in your journey toward becoming a Breakthrough Leadership Team …”
Here, again, the opening lines of the conclusion orient the reader, signaling to them that they have reached the final chapter. In this case, the Author jumps immediately into helping the reader figure out what to do next.
The title of this final chapter, by the way, is “Call to Action.” It’s the theme of the whole chapter, reminding the reader of their journey throughout the book and suggesting what to do next.
3. Beyond Wins, by Mala Subramaniam
“Did the book address questions posed in the OpeningThoughts?
Why do I feel like I am on a seesaw of wins and losses in my business negotiations? Even when I win, I sometimes feel like I lost something. Tools and techniques I picked up in books and training are not foreign, so what am I missing? What will put me on the path to success? What Is the yardstick for success?
It did for Paula of the Adrift Website Case, which is a real success story.”
This Author begins her conclusion by returning to and listing the questions she asked at the beginning. As the book ends, she reminds the reader of where the journey started, then immediately leads into a new story.
While you shouldn’t introduce new concepts in a conclusion, new stories that drive key concepts home are a great way to leave the reader with a memorable application of what they’ve learned.
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How to end a novel: Writing strong story endings
Knowing how to end a novel is an essential skill for fiction writers. Story endings often stay with us as readers – especially when they’re satisfying, haunting, clever or profound. Here are 7 ways to end a novel. May they inspire you to find the best closing for your story:
- Post author By Bridget McNulty
- 11 Comments on How to end a novel: Writing strong story endings
Knowing how to end a novel is an essential skill for fiction writers. Story endings often stay with us as readers – especially when they’re satisfying, haunting, clever or profound. Here are 7 ways to end a novel. May they inspire you to find the best closing for your story:
1. Leave readers guessing: The open-ended story
2. bring readers full circle: ending where you began, 3. pull the rug from beneath their feet: shocking twist endings, 4. create feel-good lingering: ‘happily ever after’ endings, 5. build in ‘what next’ – cliffhanger endings, 6. create complex resolutions: combining ending types, 7. avoid cliched and unsatisfying story endings: ending ‘don’ts’.
Let’s explore each of these story ending types in greater detail:
Leaving your story open-ended is an interesting but risky approach. Open-ended closing chapters may work in a literary novel. Yet in a genre romance novel, readers typically expect that lovers will be united.
What makes an open-ended story satisfying? It allows the reader to imagine, to fill in the blanks. Without a guide for how we should interpret the final scenes, we’re free to decide for ourselves what they mean.
An example of an open ending: An anti-hero killer ends up relocating and going incognito. This ending was used by the writer’s of the Showtime TV adaptation of Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter series. Not giving a final conflict or confrontation leaves room for future installments.
J.K. Rowling took a similar approach in the final book of her Harry Potter series. (Rowling however also advanced the timeline several years, with her characters shown as grown adults in her epilogue. This was interpreted as a way for the author to convince her devoted readers there would be no more stories involving her characters’ teenage years.)
Even though this type of story ending leaves some room for imagination and interpretation, make sure that you:
- Resolve secondary conflicts and arcs so that there is at least some sense of resolution. For example, even if a primary villain lives to fight another day, perhaps their henchmen get their just desserts.
- Don’t mistake an open ending for letting the story peter out – even if there is no decisive conclusion, maintain tension to the end.
- Know your reason for leaving your story open-ended. Perhaps you want to convey a specific message (in the case of the example above, it could be that sometimes ‘bad’ people get away with bad deeds).
Another type of story ending is the ‘full circle’ closing. Here, everything returns to how it all began:
If you prefer a stronger sense of an ending, the ‘full circle’ story ending can be highly satisfying. This is a particularly effective way to end a book if your story began with a mysterious, unresolved situation. [ Brainstorm the starting and ending scenarios for your story using Now Novel’s step-by-step process.]
Example of a ‘full circle’ story ending
David Mitchell’s novel Cloud Atlas is an excellent example of this type of novel ending.
In his sci-fi adventure novel, Mitchell hops between eras and locations from section to section. Each section ends on a cliffhanger or with an unknown unexplained. The author resolves each story arc in reverse order from the middle. This creates a sort of mirror structure around the central post-apocalyptic section.
Cloud Atlas ends with the resolution of the first interrupted story arc. We learn the fate of a character taken ill aboard a ship, and a shocking twist about a primary relationship for the character. Mitchell thus returns us to the first set of characters, and the novel’s first time setting and style (the first and last sections are written as journal entries at sea). This mirror or cyclical structure gives Mitchell’s novel a particularly satisfying sense of completion.
Shocking story endings that surprise us with a major twist are also effective:
The plot twist is a typical ending for the short story. Famous short fiction authors such as O. Henry and Edgar Allan Poe mastered the ‘twist in the tale’ ending. Yet this can also be a satisfying ending to a longer work of fiction. Masters of the surprise ending include the authors Kazuo Ishiguro and Ian McEwan.
Alec Worley, in his post ‘ The 5 types of twist ending’, lists the following types of story twists:
How to end a novel with a reversal: the 5 types
- Identity reversal: In which ‘someone turns out to be someone else’. A character is not who we (or other characters) thought they were. This is a common ending type when there is an unreliable narrator .
- Motive reversal: In which the reader assumes a character is acting out of the desire for x when what they really want turns out to be y. For example, we think a character seeks a lover because they’re romantic, but they turn out to be controlling and power-seeking.
- Perception reversal: In this type of story ending, the protagonist realizes their world or their understanding of it is out of step with reality. This is a common ending type in Poe’s dark, Gothic stories.
- Fortune reversal: Here a character is brought low or elevated to new highs by a stroke of luck or unforeseen circumstances. Dickens’ Great Expectations is an example. The character Pip inherits a fortune from a mystery benefactor, who turns out not to be the person he thought.
- Fulfillment reversal: A character reaches the goal of their primary motivation . But another character’s actions undo their hard work.
An ending doesn’t have to be shocking or surprising. Yet surprising reversal endings give readers the uncanny feeling of having been duped. This sense of surprise can make your climax more dynamic and exciting .
A twist ending, especially a shocking, discomforting one, carries the risk of angering readers who were looking forward to an expected resolution. Sometimes you’ll simply want to give readers what they expect and desire of a novel in your genre .
A tidy wrap-up can be comforting and reassuring – it’s why most childhood tales end with ‘happily ever after’ (or simply the reassuring finality of ‘the end’).
Even if a tidy ending feels a little too predictable, there are ways to make the wrap-up more interesting:
- Create additional tension before the climax that makes resolution seem less likely
- Create an ‘it ended well, but…’ Leave a small part of the story unresolved to make readers curious about a possible sequel
- Experiment in the way you present your ending (for example J.K. Rowling’s flash-forward in the resolution to her Harry Potter series that creates a bittersweet sense of finality)
5. Build in ‘What if?’ – Cliffhanger endings
If you want to explore your fictional world further over a series of books, cliffhangers are effective story endings.
Think of how screenwriters handle plot arcs in thriller TV series. While each major plot arc of each season is mostly resolved, there is something left over that leaves viewers hankering for the next season to start. The bodyguard’s ward may be killed and they fail in their main task, but they (and us) still need further answers. Who was the culprit? What was their motivation?
Think of each book in your series as a season. Building the ‘what next?’ into your closing chapter will keep readers on the lookout for your next installment . It also helps to stop your resolution from feeling too tidy and convenient.
There’s no reason why you should have to stick to just one of the story ending types listed above.
There’s no single correct answer for how to end a novel. A simple return to the beginning can be effective, but the way David Mitchell returns to the beginning in Cloud Atlas with new information is both complex and satisfying. It’s a combination of a ‘full circle’ ending and a final twist.
Explore ways you can combine different types of ending to provide some surprise and some satisfaction.
Some story endings feel hollow and unsatisfying. Here are novel endings to avoid in your writing:
The deus ex machina
A d eus ex machina describes when an unlikely story event provides a quick, all-too-convenient resolution. It usually feels contrived. The term is derived from the ancient Greek for ‘God from the machine’. In the Greek theatre, actors playing Gods would be lowered onto the stage on a rope via a crane-like contraption, usually to resolve primary conflicts. Try to avoid lowering in convenient Gods near the end of your story on obvious rope.
The abrupt ending
The end of a novel serves multiple important functions: It resolves major questions raised by preceding plot events (or purposefully leaves some unanswered). It clarifies and rounds off important ideas or themes (reinforces the ‘point’ of the novel). It also shapes the lingering impression readers will have of your story as a whole.
Avoid moving your story to an end without sufficient build-up and release. The best story endings weave together all the different threads that have been laid out before the reader. It’s often subtler to do this over several ending scenes or chapters. This is often smoother than hurriedly tying all your characters’ arcs up in a clumsy knot. This being said, there are no ‘rules’. Bret Easton Ellis ends The Rules of Attraction mid-sentence. However you choose to end your story, know your reasons.
Need help writing and ending your story? Join Now Novel for constructive feedback from the community or work one-on-one with a writing coach to make great progress.
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- How to make dialogue in writing carry your story
- How to start a story: Writing better preview pages
- Story coach Arja Salafranca on writing and editing
- Tags deus ex machina , how not to end a novel , how to end a novel , story endings
By Bridget McNulty
Bridget McNulty is a published author, content strategist, writer, editor and speaker. She is the co-founder of two non-profits: Sweet Life Diabetes Community, South Africa's largest online diabetes community, and the Diabetes Alliance, a coalition of all the organisations working in diabetes in South Africa. She is also the co-founder of Now Novel: an online novel-writing course where she coaches aspiring writers to start - and finish! - their novels. Bridget believes in the power of storytelling to create meaningful change.
11 replies on “How to end a novel: Writing strong story endings”
In my first novel, I’m using the unreliable narrator to achieve the ‘identity reversal’ ending. My story is told in third person limited, however. Glad I read this post because I was struggling with the reveals at the end.
I found myself switching to the omniscient voice when trying to wrap things up which was weird and I couldn’t figure out why it all felt…cheap. I now realize, my audience will have learn of the truth at the same time my main character does…………….right? I can’t suddenly switch to “AND THIS IS WHY ALL OF THIS WAS HAPPENING THE WAY IT WAS. The End!!” Lol!
I’ve also realized I can wrap two twists in without going overboard, having both the Identity Reversal and ALSO combines the characters’ true motives (Motives Reversal).
My wheels are turning now! Your posts always set me right!
Hi 2Cents. I’m so glad to hear that. It sounds as though you’ve set up quite the complex ending, good luck with getting to the finish line 🙂
Late to the party but kudos for the attempt. I’m scared to death of both the unreliable narrator and the omniscient voice.
The thing is, I wasn’t trying to do it. It just turned out to be how I wrote it. I sound more competent than I really am. : P
Oh, for the times I’ve been there. Russell Banks did a smooth shift from 3rd limited to omniscient in Affliction but that’s one of the only examples I can think of.
Walter Mosley is a hero of mine and I’ve studied his work like I studied freshman accounting. However I can tell you exactly where he lost me as a reader: the sudden ending in Blond Faith. It was manipulative and cheap. I could no longer invest in the character and follow his journey.
Thanks for sharing that, Elias. I had a similar reaction to Kazuo Ishiguro’s ‘Never Let me Go’ (although I still very much enjoy his writing).
Hello i’m writing a novel and i kinda suck at grammar and i’m lazy AF but this helps a lot i’m a big potterhead and my stories are always including the LGBTQ+ community my book is like horror fantasy and mythology combined it is inspired hugely by Hp but the “hogwarts” of my story is called Evermore i have a question though is it legal for me to use the whole house sorting thing in my own novel (it’s a trilogy) without getting sued?
Hi Luminox, thank you for reading our article and sharing this question. I would advise against using such a hallmark element of Harry Potter lore (legal issues aside, many readers could accuse you of plagiarism and/or unoriginality were you to use the exact method of house sorting or language involved).
Perhaps there could be some or other trial, questionnaire, personal background (for example lineage) that could decide which houses your characters are placed in? I hope this helps.
The ending is the problem I am having my first draft. Nothing is working for me right now in terms of a worthy conclusion. Fortunately, this article has given me some needed advice! Thank you!
It’s a pleasure, Jeremiah. Good luck with writing your ending!
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How to Write a Book Conclusion (& End Your Story The Right Way) 1. Hook. This is one of the most important writing tips for any Author: Every chapter should start with a hook. Even the last one. This can be a story ... 2. Restate the book’s mission/thesis. 3. Summarize chapters. 4. Call to action. ...
Resolution: An ending must always wrap up and resolve the central conflict you laid out in the beginning of the novel. A reader should walk away with a feeling that the story is complete. 2. Transformation: A story's ending should bring a powerful close to your character development.
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