The end

Most novelists heave a sigh of relief when they reach the end.  At the beginning of the story it is crucial to hook readers in, at the end it's vital to send them away feeling satisfied that your story has been rounded off.

I'm reaching the end of Panthera : Death Song now.  According to my chapter plan, I'm four chapters away from it.  But looking over my notes yesterday, I realised they didn't deal with some of the loose ends I still have dangling.  Some of these ends were the result of changes I made when I was writing, such as introducing a corrupt security chief.  I didn't know how he'd been corrupt at the time, but now I have to deal with that.  

The trick with the end is to tie up all the loose story threads but not to give the reader a 'and they all lived happily ever after' finish to the story.  Adults know that real life isn't like that, and fiction even more so.  If your characters' lives were always happy and went smoothly then there'd be no conflict and no story.

The end is a tricky balancing act between leaving the story as early as possible and giving us a sense that the characters' lives go on beyond the end of the book.  We want our readers to think "so that's why that happened", and go away with a sense of satisfaction at having read a tale well told.  When we do that readers turn into fans and can't wait to buy our next book.