The Denouement: How to Nail the End of Your Novel

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Reedsy, a NaNoWriMo 2017 sponsor, is a curated marketplace that connects authors and publishers with the world’s best editors, designers and marketers. Today, Reedsy staff writer Arielle Contreras shares her advice on working through the end of your novel:

A novel needs a great climax—a moment when everything comes to a head—for it to really feel finished to a reader. However, most great stories don’t die the moment the climax is over; they spend time wrapping up final intricacies and resolving lingering questions. This final structural element of a novel is called the denouement.

But when you reach your novel’s final moments, how do you go about writing a denouement that results in a satisfied sigh from your readers the moment they finish your book? Let’s take a look (There are spoilers ahead, but you will always be given fair warning when one is approaching!):