If the ending of a novel doesn't seem satisfying or fitting, it's going to sour your whole reading experience. However great the set-up, however interesting the details of the plot, you want a strong pay-off.

That doesn't necessarily mean every novel should end happily ... but it does mean that the protagonist should be instrumental in bringing about the resolution.

Assuming you want readers to feel satisfied by your novel's ending, your protagonist needs to have clear, significant agency in bringing that ending about.

We want to see the protagonist defeat the antagonist ... we don't want someone else to swoop in and save the day instead. And whether the antagonist is a character, a force of nature, or even the protagonist's internal struggles, we don't want the protagonist to triumph through a chain of improbable coincidences or through events that happen when they're off-stage entirely.

Let's say your story has been all about a young woman learning to control and master her magical powers, despite the opposition of her powerful, evil uncle. If the story is resolved by her mentor scaring the uncle into fleeing the country, it's probably not going to seem like a satisfying ending to the reader.

You don't necessarily need a physical or verbal showdown between the protagonist and antagonist (though be aware that in some genres, readers will want and expect that!) But you do need to make it clear that the protagonist has won the victory by their own actions and, often, by their growth as a person.

Even with a tragic or bittersweet ending, we want to feel that the protagonist has brought it about rather than being completely at the mercy of fate. Perhaps they were unable to overcome their own flaws (as when Othello’s belief in “honest Iago” leads him to murder Desdemona) and because of that, they've had agency in bringing about the story’s end.

Next time you finish reading a novel, think about the ending and how the protagonist's actions brought it about. Was it satisfying? If not, were there issues like other characters stepping in too much, coincidences saving the day, or a lack of real confrontation between the protagonist and antagonist?

Happy writing,

Ali

P.S. If you missed last week's Aliventures blog post, here it is:

How to Write Difficult Scenes: Five Tips for Stretching Your Writing Muscles