Types of Endings: The Last Lines

Congrats, you have successfully come to the end of your book.

Now all you need is a good ending.

But what kind of ending? All this time writing you may have never even considered what kind of ending to write. It was just all going to come to an end and everything was going to be all fine and peachy.

Endings aren't that simple though. Just as the beginning line, that first sentence, grips your reader and sends them off on an epic journey through the pages of your book and gives them many exciting, sleepless nights, the ending also has a function.

In fact, endings can have several functions. It all depends on how you want to send your reader off.

Through reading many, many books, here are some ending types I have found.

First, the typical,

Types of Beginnings: The First Line

You walk up to the center of the square. Thousands of people walk by everyday. You need to grab their attention from the first line.

What do you say?

Creative writers, academic writers, play-writes, journalists, all struggle with the beginning. The first sentence. The hook.

You hope to grab the reader from the beginning and hold them there, and make them want more.

But it's always hard. For my own novel, I have rewritten that first line so many times I've lost count. Nothing seemed right. I've looked up first lines and even gone back to my favorite books to see how the pros do it.

What then, do published first lines look like?

Types of Chapter Names

When you write a story, usually chapter names become a problem BECAUSE they kinda represent that chapter. I have found these types of chapter names and maybe they can give you an idea on how to do your own. But keep in mind these are only ones that I have seen or done.

The number chapters

like, Chapter One or Chapter 1 or Chapter I or Ch. 1


The numbers without the chapters

like, One, or 1, or I


Then there are the humorous chapters

like In Which She Hit Her Head, Tomorrow's Last Day of School or some other witty chapter name that makes you smile in the beginning. These are made-up chapters so they probably won't make you smile.


The Summary Chapters