Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Resolution

Now comes the fun. The crisis point has been reached and the focus character has made a decision. The story needs to be resolved in a way that makes sense. With resolution comes reward for the focus character. Does he or she obtain what they have been seeking during their quest? If they don't the question is Why? The reader needs to feel that sense of release and to think, "this is the way it should end." Hopefully every reader will think the end of the story is the only one that could be.

In the resolution of the story the writer needs to mold this is a way showing the reward given or not is appropriate. Loose ends should be tied up. This can be difficult and something is left dangling. A good friend of mine once wrote a very good story but there was something mentioned and I really wanted to know the answer to what might have been a toss away line. The resolution happened but that little statement bugged me. So I told her and when the book was reissued, she went back and gave me the answer I craved.

Most stories end with a single line that sums up the reward. This is sort of the same as that first line that starts the action. For me, this is always a struggle to make the line fit. Sure in a romance you could end on I love you. Or a mystery could end. The police took the criminal off to jail. This little tidbit should show the focus character is rewarded and realizes where he or she went wrong during the entire story.

There will be more exploration of the resolution next week.