The wrap-up!

July 28, 2009 at 2:08 PM | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

So you’ve almost finished your book. Well, all but that last, final scene you have no idea how to write.

The wrap-up is your ending. It doesn’t have to be happy. It doesn’t have to be horribly sad, either. The goal is to make sure that your main character has changed/evolved throughout the novel, and what’s brought them to that conclusion is something they wouldn’t have done a few months/years/weeks/days back, at the beginning. Was there a love interest at the beginning? The MC can still keep him/her at the end, if their relationship has changed. Was there a horrible mother/sister/popular cheerleader? She doesn’t have to change, as long as the main character understands the reasons why she’s so evil.

This is the time to tie up the loose ends of subplots, etc.

Your ending can be whatever you want–but it has to resonate with the reader long after they’ve put it down. Some examples of endings done wonderfully: Looking For Alaska (Green), Tomato Girl (Pupek), Prep (Sittenfeld), Rhymes With Witches (Myracle), and Stargirl (Spinelli).

After all, the goal of writing YA is to describe what the hero has learned through their journey.

– linda