The Last Fifty Pages Read online

  Then Katniss figures a way out. Knowing the Capitol needs a victor, she and Peeta will threaten to eat the poison berries, right there on TV. Her plan works. Claudius Templesmith tells them to stop, and announces they have a joint victory.

  Being the first book of a trilogy, Suzanne Collins leaves us with an Open-Ended Ending. We don’t know what Katniss’ fate is going to be vis-a-vis the Capitol. But even more, what will become of her relationship with Peeta, who now thinks that what Katniss did with him in the Games was only for show (worked out with Haymitch)? Further, what of Gale and Katniss (setting up a classic love triangle)?

  I want to tell him that he’s not being fair. That we were strangers. That I did what it took to stay alive, to keep us both alive in the arena. That I can’t explain how things are with Gale because I don’t know myself. That it’s no good loving me because I’m never going to get married anyway and he’d just end up hating me later instead of sooner. That if I do have feelings for him, it doesn’t matter because I’ll never be able to afford the kind of love that leads to a family, to children. And how can he? How can he after what we’ve just been through?

  Try This:

  With the next three novels you read, and the next three movies you watch, analyze the last fifty pages or the last ten minutes. First ask how you feel about the ending. What emotion is inside you?

  Examine the emotion. Why do you feel it? What did the author or filmmaker do to make you feel that way? What specific parts of the craft were utilized?

  Note, it’s just as instructive to know why an ending fails to satisfy you as it is to know why it succeeds.

  11

  THE ENDING OF THIS BOOK ON ENDINGS

  A guy brings a squirrel into a bar, and sets the cage down.

  The bartender says, “What is that?”

  The guy says, “A mystery writer.”

  “What? That looks like a squirrel.”

  “Yeah,” the guy says. “He’s a squirrel and he writes mysteries.”

  The bartender shakes his head. “Come on! How can a squirrel write a mystery?”

  And the guy says, “Simple. He starts at the end and works his way back.”

  *clears throat*

  But there’s wisdom in the joke. If a squirrel can do it, you can.

  Or maybe another bit of wisdom: knowing the end before you start will help your writing stay on a good track.

  Remember, you can change your ending anytime. But at least something will be there for you to change.

  And once you get to the end, write it for all it’s worth. I spend more time on my last chapter than all the other parts of the book. It’s not uncommon for me to revise the last page ten or twenty times. Not large-scale revisions or changes; it’s mainly to get the sound right. I’ll cut a word here or there, or add a line.

  I’ll read it out loud several times. I’m looking for the Ah. Maybe someday it’s be the Uh-oh!

  Remember always that when a reader finishes your book, you want that reader to feel glad to know you, the writer. And anxious to read more of your work.

  Katherine Anne Porter, winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, once said, “If I didn’t know the ending of a story, I wouldn’t begin. I always write my last lines, my last paragraph, my last page first, and then I go back and work towards it. I know where I’m going. I know what my goal is. And I know how I get there is God’s grace.”

  All us writers need a little grace to get to the unforgettable endings we desire. I hope this book helps you find them.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Thanks for reading my book. It’s my great pleasure to help writers, so please take a moment to sign up for my occasional email updates. You’ll be the first to know about my book releases and special deals. My emails are short and I won’t stuff your mailbox, and you can certainly unsubscribe at any time.

  You can sign up by going to the FREE BOOK page on my website:

  www.jamesscottbell.com

  Also, my comprehensive training course in the craft of bestselling fiction is now available. An investment that will pay off for your entire career.

  https://knockoutfiction.teachable.com/p/novel

  WRITING BOOKS BY JAMES SCOTT BELL

  • Write Your Novel From The Middle

  • Super Structure: The Key to Unleashing the Power of Story

  • How to Write Dazzling Dialogue

  • Plot & Structure

  • Revision & Self-Editing

  • Conflict & Suspense

  • The Art of War for Writers

  • Just Write

  • How to Make a Living as a Writer

  • Marketing for Writers Who Hate Marketing

  • The Mental Game of Writing

  • 27 Fiction Writing Blunders — And How Not to Make Them

  • How to Write Short Stories, And Use Them to Further Your Writing Career

  • How to Write Pulp Fiction

  • Writing Fiction for All You're Worth

  • Fiction Attack!

  • Self-Publishing Attack!

  • How to Write Comedy: The Danny Simon Notes

  THRILLERS BY JAMES SCOTT BELL

  The Mike Romeo Thriller Series

  Romeo’s Rules

  Romeo’s Way

  Romeo’s Hammer

  Romeo’s Fight

  "Mike Romeo is a terrific hero. He's smart, tough as nails, and fun to hang out with. James Scott Bell is at the top of his game here. There'll be no sleeping till after the story is over." - John Gilstrap, New York Times bestselling author of the Jonathan Grave thriller series

  The Ty Buchanan Legal Thriller Series

  Try Dying

  Try Darkness

  Try Fear

  “Part Michael Connelly and part Raymond Chandler, Bell has an excellent ear for dialogue and makes contemporary L.A. come alive. Deftly plotted, flawlessly executed, and compulsively readable. Bell takes his place among the top authors in the crowded suspense genre.” - Sheldon Siegel, New York Times bestselling author

  Stand Alone Thrillers

  Your Son is Alive

  Blind Justice

  Don’t Leave Me

  Final Witness

  Framed

  Zombie Legal Thrillers

  You read that right. A new genre. Part John Grisham, part Raymond Chandler—it’s just that the lawyer is dead. Mallory Caine, Zombie at Law, defends the creatures no other lawyer will touch…and longs to reclaim her real life.

  Pay Me In Flesh

  The Year of Eating Dangerously

  I Ate The Sheriff

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  JAMES SCOTT BELL is a winner of the International Thriller Writers Award (Romeo’s Way) and is the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, Plot & Structure. He studied writing with Raymond Carver at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and graduated with honors from the University of Southern California Law Center.

  A former trial lawyer, Jim writes full time in his home town of Los Angeles.

  * * *

  For More Information

  www.jamesscottbell.com

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Praise for James Scott Bell

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Contents

  Epigraph

  1. Endings Are Hard

  2. What Should an Ending Do?

  3. Should You Know Your Ending Before You Write?

  4. About Act 3

  5. The Shape of Your Ending

  6. The Meaning of Your Ending

  7. Brainstorming Endings

  8. Resonant Endings

  9. Avoiding Common Ending Problems

  10. Some Endings Examined

  11. The Ending of This Book on Endings

  Author’s Note

  Writing Books by James Scott Bell

  Thrillers by James Scott Bell

  About the Author

  , The Last Fifty Pages