I really want to end my books with a punch that leaves the reader sitting in their seat saying “wow, what a good book.” I want them to feel like they’ve grown closer to every part of themselves and to God. It’s like when I can’t quite get off the couch after watching an incredible movie that leaves me sooo inspired and sad and happy all at the same time.
That’s such a good question!
I’m not sure there’s a single, right answer, but a a big piece of that satisfied feeling you get from a great book or movie comes from a well defined driving conflict.
Novels are complex, and there’s a lot going on, but what’s the one thing that has to be satisfactorily resolved in order for the reader to have closure from the story? If that one piece comes together, it doesn’t matter what happens to the rest, and it’s even better if some of the other conflicts and subplots don’t resolve.
In order to achieve that feeling, we have to clearly show the reader what the driving conflict is, and then clearly resolve it, preferably in an ironic way.
There’s definitely more to it than that, and a lot of it is subjective, but I’m 100% sure that this is a critical piece to the feeling you’re talking about. 🙂
