chapters Archives - Douglas W.T. Smith

How to End a Chapter/ Scene

Each chapter has a beginning-middle-end, and a focused purpose. A purpose that you as the author should be able to state clearly.

I recently wrote a post, Five Ways to Start a Chapter/Scene but now I will be looking at how to end a chapter/ scene.

There is a natural flow of a chapter, as a reader, you know this instinctively. You can feel when the chapter is about to be over. The chapter begins with an action or forward motion of some kind. Then the action or tension increases, then something is accomplished or resolved—and then something new begins.

But how do you end it in a way that’s compelling and irresistible to continue reading?

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Five Ways to Start a Chapter/Scene

As I edit manuscript, I realised my scenes overlapped throughout chapters. It seemed unorganised and rough.

A scene is a sequence of continuous action in a creative project. The key words here are ‘sequence’ and ‘action’. A scene shows the chain of cause and effect. This could be character-centered or situation-centered.

Here are Five Ways to Start a Chapter/Scene to make them flow onto other plot points.

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Reading chapters of my novel

As you might or might not be aware, I am editing the first draft of my novel. I have completed a third of it and willing to share the first chapters for reading.

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