The End of the Road-How to Keep the Last Act of Your Novel Exciting and Satisfying

Last month I wrote about the Muddle in the Middle, the hardest section for me to write and maybe for some of you, too. I hope you don’t mind but I’m going to repeat the last part of that blog, Training for Battle. Then I’ll go into the Crisis, Black Moment and Act 3, the last act and the End of the Road for your story.

Part 4: Training for Battle

The hero will suffer through a number of tests such as interpersonal challenges, maybe even physical challenges. He’ll encounter obstacles that are difficult to overcome, physically, emotionally or mentally. Again, he’ll look inside himself and learn to adapt to change and conquer the barriers to his goal which he encounters through out the middle of the story.

Follow these principles: Every obstacle the hero faces must make the journey more difficult, causing him to dig deeper. He’ll find a character trait he didn’t have before. He’ll get better at the new skills he’s learning.

Each time the hero improves his skills, he becomes more of the person he wants to be, and he has a glimmer of hope for the future. So give him a glimpse of something he longs for. Let him kiss the girl. (Now I know where to add a kiss!) Things are looking good for the hero!

When the hero and heroine feel empowered and on their way to victory, you’ll pull the rug out from under them.

Since they’ve grown and matured and developed important skills, they’ll be prepared to face the problems that lay ahead. Very soon they’ll smash right into the Crisis, the worst situation of the story and of course, the most difficult to overcome.


Crisis/All is Lost: It has the whiff of death, of terrible defeat. The hero might want to run away and not face the end of his old way of thinking. He might feel he can’t possibly defeat the obstacle blocking him from the attainment of his goal. He loses hope. But fortunately, this is a false defeat. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know that, yet.

Ask yourself: what event strips the character of hope?

Black Moment: This is the darkest, lowest point because the main character has lost everything. It could be physical or emotional loss or both.

Create the Black Moment Event.

It’s based on the heroine’s greatest fear. The lie she thinks about herself holds her back throughout the story and feels totally real to her. But the Epiphany forces her to learn that what she believes is a lie. Only the truth that sets her free. Now she can break down the barriers preventing her from moving forward. She can attain her goal, and in a romance, the love of the man she cherishes.

What can the heroine do at the end that she couldn’t do at the beginning?

Overcoming her greatest fear enables her to grow into the new, stronger person that the reader wants to see. She’s able to run the race and know she can win.

How do we create the Black Moment?

The Black Moment Event comes from going back into the hero’s backstory to find a Dark Moment in his past that has shaped him. From it we pull out the Greatest Fear and the Lie he believes, but shouldn’t. The Greatest Fear is the EVENT you will recreate in some form, and the LIE is what you will make your character believe is true as inescapable as an EFFECT of the Black Moment.

The result of this is the truth setting your hero free, to escape her flaw, and then a Character Change/Hurrah finale where she does something at the end that she wouldn’t do at the beginning.

Examine her Greatest Fear to find her acute pressure point. Bring back the greatest fear by recreating the pain of a terrible past event that she’s never truly forgotten or overcome. Pain from the event in her past is still with her in the present and reaches into her future. It can be regret, abandonment, anger etc. This new event produces the same emotions, the same conclusion, the same LIE she believes. Slowly push your heroine to confront this fear right from the beginning of the story.

The Black Moment should be strong enough to bring her to her knees and re-evaluate everything she believes in. This will lead her to a healing Epiphany. She must look back and see what she did wrong. Only then will she come to some truth that will open a new door to a new future.

You start the hero on a journey and she has to want something, but be unable to attain it. During the journey, the external plot points affect the internal character journey so that the hero begins to want to change, and even opportunities to change. When she reaches the Black Moment, she realizes her need to change, and her Epiphany causes this to happen. For us to believe she’s changed, she has to be tested. This is the Final Battle.

ACT 3: In Act 3 the protagonists muster the courage to overcome their inner obstacles and remove the emotional armor that has kept them apart throughout the story.

Final Battle

In the Final Battle, she accomplishes what she couldn’t even imagine doing at the beginning. She’s tempted to give up since this is such an enormous obstacle to overcome. But the Epiphany has changed her because she’s learned to vanquish the lie and believe in the truth. She can finally press on to the Triumphant Ending.

You wage a Final Battle to show change has really taken place. It’s not just a mental assertion; it’s now a part of her entire character. You wage this internal struggle by using external elements.

To sum up the ending: The heroine faces the last, but most difficult challenge. What she couldn’t do previously, she can do now. She confronts the lie (or her inner flaws which have kept her from change). She falters, then embraces the truth/epiphany, and she forges ahead in victory.

Here are the steps to follow:

Step One: Storm the Castle. What is the final thing the heroine needs to do to prove she has changed? (Just saying she’s changed for the better isn’t enough.) She’ll have to prove it in a tangible way. It’s an internal transformation which she shows through her actions in the external plot.

Step Two: She’s human after all, so she’ll falter, or be attacked by the Lie. Ask: How can her fears or flaws, her dark moment from her backstory rise up to make her doubt herself? This shows that change is hard, even though she’s experienced a moment of enlightenment called the Epiphany. Letting go of past beliefs which have proven false are still difficult to give up.

Step Three: Grasp the truth and hold on! She’ll be reminded of her epiphany that has recently made her see the truth and this gives her strength to continue on.

Step Four: Carpe diem! Victory! How does she complete her journey by showing she has confronted the lie, and chosen truth. How can she win?

Climax: 

External Relationship Arc: How does fear threaten the potential of the relationship one last time?

Internal Relationship Arc: How do the characters prove they don’t want to continue without the other anymore?


Final Image / Resolution: Show how the characters are now fully themselves, in love, and perfect for each other. Show how much change has occurred. A wedding scene is a great example of how two characters at odds at the beginning finally come together in harmony.

There’s a beautiful sunset at the end of the road.

Happily Ever After: We picture our couple, who have emerged from all kinds of trials and tribulations, as people deserving and capable of living happily ever after. There’s nothing like a satisfying ending that’s truly a new beginning!

This information came from Susan May Warren’s book Conversations with a Writing Coach. I highly recommend it!

I’ll be giving away a $10.00 gift certificate to Starbucks, my favorite place for lattes and caramel frappuccinos. Winner announced in the Weekend Edition.

Spring into Love

And They Lived...by Guest Blogger Dan Walsh

Thanks again to Tina for inviting back to be with you all again. Always one of my favorite stops on the Internet. Look forward to spending the whole day with you. Now, about the title for my post…. 

How does the story end? You know what comes next, right? They lived happily ever after. Growing up as a kid in the late 50s and 60s, I was used to stories ending this way. It was the norm. Certainly, every Disney movie did. 

All of the family-oriented movies did (and there were plenty of those in the theaters). Almost all the love stories did, too. 

It’s one of the reasons people read books, watched TV and went to the movies. To be encouraged and entertained, occasionally inspired. Life was hard. We didn’t want to be reminded just how hard by our storytellers. Okay, sometimes we did. But we could always count on a happy ending. Before that last page turned or the credits rolled up there on the silver screen the guy gets the girl, the runner wins the race, the crime gets solved, the bad guy gets it, the world gets saved.

The message was reinforced: there is always hope for a better tomorrow. 

By the end of the 60s, certainly throughout the 70s, things began to change. Under the banner of realism―and, perhaps yielding to the new air of cynicism brought on by the Vietnam War, Watergate and a series of tragic assassinations―it wasn’t uncommon to find books and movies ending sadly. If not sadly, then vaguely. As if the writer’s message was: “Now, you think about that.”

I’m seeing in books and movies, particularly in secular storytelling, a resurgence of this same air of cynicism and commitment to “gritty realism” that we saw back then. In my writing, I try to combat this trend when I can, especially in the way I end my books.

Three Cheers for Happy Endings

I make no apologies. I believe in happy endings.

I said “happy” endings, not sappy (a distinction I heard Allen Arnold make at a conference last year; Allen was the former fiction publisher at Thomas Nelson). I don’t believe all our stories should end with unicorns and rainbows. But I think a lot of what’s out there today is WAY too dark, and the endings often leave us stuck there. 
 

In part, I can understand why. Life is hard and, for many people, it’s been hard a long time. For those who do not know the Lord, the outlook is often bleak. It can even seem hopeless. I think our books need to reflect that to be relevant and connect well with readers. 

After all, conflict is the essence of good fiction. 


But this is also where I think believers can make a real difference. We have a real message of Hope to offer, not a fiction one. I believe one of the goals of Christian fiction should be to lead people from that dark place to a place of hope.

God’s ways are all about redemption; through Christ he offers us a “narrow way that leads to life.” I’m a firm believer in writing what I call “Romans 8:28 Endings.”

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.”

I think that’s part of my calling as a Christian fiction writer, to reveal God’s ways through stories that accurately reflect those ways, as we see them taught in the Scriptures. God’s plans for us are filled with hope and even happiness.

That happiness doesn’t come overnight, or all at once. But in time, it does come. It definitely does come. I’m simply suggesting that we keep writing our story until we reach that part, the part where hope is born, where faith in God and His goodness is seen to be a credible alternative to the bleak, often despairing outlook offered by writers who have no such hope.

A Tribute to Vietnam Vets

Like most of my other books my most recent novel, The Reunion, includes a love story but it also offers hope for those needing reconciliation within their families. And it includes a tribute to Vietnam veterans (really, to veterans from every war).

It’s appropriate to end my post on this note, considering today we celebrate Veterans Day. Vietnam Vets, in particular, did not experience a “Happily Ever After” ending to their story. Most came home to an ungrateful nation who treated them terribly, as if they were to blame for this unpopular war. All they did was try to serve their country when called upon to do so. Most didn’t even have a choice; they were drafted (forced) into service.

In The Reunion, we follow the story of Aaron Miller, a Congressional Medal of Honor winner, who came home addicted to painkillers and wound up losing everything, including his family. He even spent much of the 70s and 80s on the streets and now works as a handyman in a trailer park. The three men whose lives Aaron saved have not forgotten what he did for them that day. They set out to find him, to finally and properly thank him for what he did, and for the full lives they have enjoyed ever since.

I’ve been amazed at the reaction to this book so far. It received a 4.5 Stars/Top Pick review from RT Books, has been optioned for a movie by a major Hollywood producer and, in two months time, has received 100 customer reviews on Amazon (averaging 4.8 Stars). 

Most of the comments I’ve received, not just from these reviews but from countless emails and Facebook messages, pay particular attention to the ending of this story. Obviously, I can’t go into it here, lest I ruin it for some of you. But I think at least part of this reaction comes from the strong sense of hope readers feel when they turn that last page.

That’s on purpose. 

That’s what I want my readers to experience when they finish one of my novels. A contented sigh, perhaps the need for some tissues. A fresh appreciation for life, love, their families and with this book, the veterans who’ve put their lives in harm’s way for so many years, so that you and I don’t have to.



How about you? How do you like stories to end? In the books you read and movies you watch? How about in the stories you write?



Dan’s Bio:



Dan Walsh is the award-winning and bestselling author of 7 novels, published by Revell and Guideposts, including The Unfinished Gift, Remembering Christmas and The Reunion. For those who haven’t read Dan’s books, reviewers often compare them to Nicholas Sparks and Richard Paul Evans. His latest project is partnering with Gary Smalley on a 4-book fiction series. The first is called, The Dance. 

A member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and Word Weavers, Dan served as a pastor for 25 years and now writes fulltime. He and his wife Cindi have been married 36 years and have 2 grown children, both married, and 1 grandson. They live in Port Orange, FL. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter, or read his blog. There are buttons to connect to these, as well as preview all his books, on his website at http://danwalshbooks.com.




 Dan has sent Seekerville a copy of The Reunion. We'll be giving that away to one commenter. Winner announced in the Weekend Edition.

SIX STRATEGIES FOR WRITING THE “HAPPILY EVER AFTER” ENDING

Janet here.

Had to share this photo taken after the Awards Gala at ACFW with Myra, Missy, me, Audra, Debby and Mary celebrating Melanie Dickerson's Carol Award. 

Before I get to the subject of my post, I want to share an ACFW workshop I absolutely loved entitled Live Free. Write Free. Presenters Allen Arnold and Jim Rubart stressed the importance of nurturing the heart of the storyteller, pointing out we can’t write what we aren’t. Allen and Jim reminded attendees that Jesus came to give us freedom. When we’re struggling with our writing, they suggest we look at our hearts.

We need to remember who we are. Our identity isn’t writer. Our identity is son or daughter of God.

Our writing is our calling. It’s good to drive toward something like publication, but it’s not good to be driven, obsessed. Instead of chasing our dream, we need to follow Jesus. Jesus will open doors in His perfect timing.

The first step to live free is to remember our schedules belong to God. If we cram each day to the brim, we leave no room for God to show up. Freedom comes from asking God each day, “What do You have for me to do?” We should see interruptions in our schedules as divine appointments.  

Yes, writers have deadlines, day jobs, and family responsibilities pulling us in different directions. Some days we may have twenty things we truly must do. If we must do them, God will redeem the time to get them done. But too often our schedules become over-packed because we can’t say no. When we can’t say no to others, we haven’t really said yes to God. Instead select the best over the better so our schedules are loose enough to do what God wants us to do and still give ourselves time to breathe. Hurry is an attitude that comes from agreement with the lie that says God expects more of us than we can do. God gives us all the time we need to accomplish His tasks.

This is only the beginning of the wisdom offered by these two godly men determined to see people set free. If you want more, you can order the CD here. Or later download the individual workshop.

Now to return to the topic of my post.

One of the things I love about romance novels is the guarantee of a happy ending. The reason I read and write romances. But haven’t you read romances that held your attention, kept you turning the pages and then at the end, when you expected the big pay-off, the story let you down? The resolution came too easily, didn’t feel real, or relied on someone besides the hero and heroine to fix their issues. Characters need to earn their happy ending, their reward for the suffering we writers put them through. If you’re not making your characters suffer, start there. J If you’re writing humor, you’ll use a lighter tone, but characters still need to walk through the fire and come out victorious. To find their happily ever after, characters must change. Like most of us, characters won’t change unless forced. That’s the writers’ job. The process is painful for the characters, and yes, sometimes for us authors too. But once our characters are redeemed or they see how their inner conflict prevents them from falling in love, they will let down the barriers separating them from happiness.

The specifics of reaching that happy ending depend on what the story is about since plot and character entwine. That happy ending also depends on what the characters have gone through in their pasts. Epilogues give readers a peek at what’s next for the happy couple, but they’re not the HEA ending. These strategies might or might not be relevant for your particular story, but they’re general enough to jumpstart ideas. I’m using some early Seeker books as examples. I’m sure Seekervillagers have read all of our books—hint, hint J—and will want to grab well-thumbed copies to see how each author accomplished the goal of giving readers satisfying endings they’ll remember.

SIX STRATEGIES TO ENSURE YOUR ENDING SATISFIES READERS

1. After endless conflict, the hero and heroine should not suddenly fall into each others arms. The hero and heroine must have strong attraction all along to make the HEA work. But even with strong sexual tension all through the story, the HEA won’t feel realistic if the characters don’t deal in a believable way with what’s kept them apart. All the issues between them must be resolved. The reason the HEA is called the resolution. Make sure your characters refuse to settle for less than they deserve. After Charles saves Adelaide’s life in Courting Miss Adelaide, September 2008, he’s so frightened he could’ve lost her that he proposes marriage, but he still hasn’t dealt with his demons and can’t proclaim his love. Adelaide’s a strong woman—all heroines must be—and won’t settle, even if remaining single means she could lose Emma. When Charles finally conquers his fears, he knows with certainty he is not only capable of love, he’s very much in love with Adelaide. He proposes in front of much of the town.

2. Show the hero and heroine have grown and changed. The characters should be changing all through the story, but by the resolution, the characters must have grown enough to make the HEA ending realistic. Show that change using characters’ actions, conversations, sacrifices and/or symbols. In Missy’s Her Unlikely Family, during the HEA ending, Mike reveals to Josie that he’s resigned from positions he held in Atlanta and sold his house, all actions he took to prove his heart’s in Gatlinburg with her. In Single Sashimi, Camy uses symbols—stilettos/flats and pants/skirts—to show change in hard-nosed Venus who is now ready to give and receive love.

3. Show the hero and heroine revealing their secrets, tearing down the barriers that kept them apart. The hero and heroine can have her/his own epiphany late or earlier, but to make the HEA meaningful, each must bring their secrets and barriers into the open during the resolution. In Debby’s MIA: Missing in Atlanta, Jude calls his father in an attempt to mend the mistakes he’s made. Once Jude faced his demons head on and had the courage to change, Jude and Sarah are able to love each other unconditionally.   

4. In inspirational romances, characters struggling with faith issues will need to make peace with God. This may involve a conversation with God, or come about through the influence of other characters, or the character himself demonstrates restoration with God with a symbolic act. In Julie’s A Passion Most Pure, Faith has loved Collin all her life, but his lack of faith keeps them apart. Collin finds God while serving overseas during the war, imperative for these two to reach their HEA ending. A tragic or joyous event can bring characters to their knees and produce change. Without such an event, your characters must grow and change gradually. If you show them seeking God by reading the Bible, talking to Christians and attending church and being impacted by those events, the reader will believe this person came to faith in a realistic way.   

5. The HEA ending works best when the story comes full circle. If possible tie the resolution to the opening. For example, in Courting the Doctor’s Daughter, LIH, 2009, I open the book with Mary, the doctor’s daughter, opposing Luke’s homemade remedy that she sees as worthless. I end the book with Mary suggesting a recipe for a remedy for her and Luke’s new life together.

6. The resolution feels bigger than life and inevitable. In the resolution the reader should see these two people were meant to be together. Though you might want to give your characters some private interaction, giving the hero and heroine their happy ending in front of an audience feels bigger than life and has readers cheering. In Mary’s Calico Canyon, the resolution is chock full of characters and wrapped in the bow of good defeating evil. Then privately Daniel and Grace discuss how God brought them together through the twists and turns of their lives.

If you have more strategies for giving characters their HEA, please share.

If you hung in with me, I thought you'd enjoy the Dean version of a rodeo stunt. This is a living, breathing Longhorn bull with 6 foot span between his horns. Okay so he's tied up and probably old, definitely tame, but still I felt very brave. See that two-step box I had to use to climb aboard his very broad back. All this to celebrate finishing line edits for The Bride Wore Spurs, LIH, a rancher story set in Texas, coming April 2013. Wish I'd had Mary's Stetson.  

   

Leave a comment preferrably about the post, not my rodeo stunt, for a chance to win either a ten dollar Amazon gift card or one of my books. Winner’s choice.

SIX STRATEGIES FOR WRITING THE HEA ENDING

Janet here.

What I love about romance novels is the guarantee of a happy ending. That’s why I read and write them. But haven’t you read romances that held your attention, kept you turning the pages and then at the end, when you expected the big pay-off, they let you down? The resolution came too easily, didn’t feel real, made you want to toss the book across the room. Characters need to earn their happy ending—i.e. it shouldn’t come easily. It’s their reward for the suffering they went through. If you’re not making your characters suffer, start there. If you’re writing humor, you’ll use a lighter tone, but characters still need to walk through the fire and come out victorious.

The specifics of reaching that happy ending depend on what the book is about and what the characters have gone through in their pasts. Epilogues give readers a peek at what’s next for the happy couple, but they’re not the HEA ending. These strategies might or might not be relevant for your particular story, but they’re general enough to jumpstart ideas. I’m using Seeker books as examples. I’m sure visitors here at Seekerville have read all of our books—hint, hint—and will want to grab well-thumbed copies to see how each author accomplished the goal of giving readers satisfying endings they’ll remember.

SIX STRATEGIES TO ENSURE YOUR ENDING SATISFIES READERS

1. After endless conflict, the hero and heroine should not suddenly fall into each others arms. If there’s not strong attraction between the hero and heroine, there should be. Without it the HEA doesn’t work. But even with strong sexual tension, the HEA won’t feel realistic if the characters don’t deal with what’s kept them apart. All the issues between them must be resolved. Guess that’s why it’s called the resolution. Make sure your characters refuse to settle for less than they deserve. After Charles saves Adelaide’s life in Courting Miss Adelaide, he’s so frightened he could’ve lost her that he proposes marriage, but he still hasn’t dealt with his demons. Adelaide’s a strong woman and won’t settle, even if remaining single means she could lose Emma.

2. Show the hero and heroine have grown and changed. The characters should be changing all through the story, but by the resolution, the characters must have grown enough to make the HEA ending realistic. Show that change using characters’ actions, conversations, sacrifices and/or symbols. In Missy’s Her Unlikely Family, during the HEA ending, Mike reveals to Josie that he’s resigned from positions he held in Atlanta and sold his house, all actions he took to prove his heart’s in Gatlinburg with her. In Single Sashimi, Camy uses symbols—stilettos/flats and pants/skirts—to show change in hard-nosed Venus who is now ready to give and receive love.

3. Show the hero and heroine revealing their secrets, tearing down the barriers that kept them apart. The hero and heroine can have her/his own epiphany late or earlier, but to make the HEA meaningful, each must bring their secrets and barriers into the open during the resolution. In Debby’s MIA: Missing in Atlanta, Jude calls his father in an attempt to mend the mistakes he’s made. Having faced their demons head on, Jude and Sarah are now able to love unconditionally.

4. In inspirational romances, characters struggling with faith issues will need to make peace with God. This may involve a conversation with God, through the influence of other characters, or the character demonstrates restoration with God with a symbolic act. In Julie’s A Passion Most Pure, Faith has loved Collin all her life, but his lack of faith keeps them apart. Collin finds God while serving overseas during the war, imperative for these two to reach their HEA ending.

5. The HEA ending works best when the story comes full circle. In Courting the Doctor’s Daughter, I open the book with Mary opposing Luke’s remedy and I end the book with Mary’s remedy for their lives. First and last lines of a novel are important, but it’s even better if those lines tie together in some way.

6. The resolution feels bigger than life and feels inevitable. In the resolution the reader should these two people were meant to be together. Though you might want to give your characters some private interaction, it feels huge to give the hero and heroine their happy ending in front of an audience. That may not be typical in real life, but it’s very satisfying to readers. In A Soldier’s Promise, Cheryl pulls out all the stops. Joel proposes to Amber in front of a porch full of family and friends, going down on one knee and giving her the note that seals the deal, along with a pledge to adopt Bradley and the keys to the Expedition. In Mary’s Calico Canyon, the resolution is chock full of characters and wrapped in the bow of good defeating evil. Then privately Daniel and Grace discuss how God brought them together through the twists and turns of their lives.

If you have more strategies for giving characters their HEA, please share. If you’re feeling brave, look at the resolutions of your stories and show us how you gave your readers a satisfying ending.