Description
This class is part of our “Summer Novel Series,” a variety of single-session classes on Thursday evenings designed to tackle one element of novel writing in each class. You can take one class, pick and choose, or take all of them! You can find all other classes in the series here.
Whether trying to end a chapter, scene, paragraph, act, or trying to finish your novel with a jaw-dropping epiphany or twist —endings are hard. Most endings take several tries to get right. And novels, unlike shorter forms of fiction, require several different kinds of endings across a few hundred pages.
For example, does that minor character in chapter ten receive a satisfying exit? When your protagonist breaks up with their partner in chapter six does the reader’s heart, too, break a little? Are we pleasantly shocked to discover the real killer’s identity?
In this class, students will have an opportunity to brainstorm, workshop, and read published examples of great endings. We’ll read excerpts for Morrison, Tolstoy, Denis Johnson, and others.
