Sticking the Dismount
So you’re 70,000 words in. The end is nigh. All you need to do is wrap it up and make sure the finale does two things:
1) Make believable sense
2) Surprise and intrigue
Those are the main things. There are others.
You must also make sure the whole thing was worth the ride. So you go back to the beginning to remind yourself why you wrote this story in the first place. Then hopefully (hopefully!) you’ve stayed on track just enough that the journey has some cohesion. But also (and this is the tricky part), you hope that you’ve wandered just enough to keep it fresh and un-contrived.
At times it can be like a train track that doesn’t meet in the middle. Then you have to decide whether to finesse the beginning to match the ending or vice versa.
But most of all, you want that dismount to stick like Nadia Comaneci when she scored all those perfect 10’s.
Lauren, does this relate to a new book? If so, good on yer.
It is indeed a new book. Title TBD.