A resolution is where all the answers to any questions that popped up in your story are finalized and answered. It’s where all the loose ends are tied up. If you wanted to think of this metaphorically, you could think of it this way. Say a meteor is coming to the earth, and it hits the earth. That is your climax which is the most intense moment. But the dust that settles after it would be your purpose of resolution in your story.
The reason that resolution is essential is that it’s the part that leaves the last impression in the mind of your reader about your writing. What should you do when you write a resolution? I’m here to help you find out that. So keep scrolling!
How to write a resolution in a story?
The resolution is also referred to as the final image, aftermath, or outcome. But in essence, it’s the ending of your story. After the climax, your main character defeats the antagonist and triumphs.
If you’ve read your story’s climax, it’s time to wrap things up. But how do you satisfyingly do that? That leaves readers wanting to read more of your books. Well, that’s exactly what we’re diving into because we’re discussing how to write a strong resolution for your story. So be sure to stick around. Let’s get started.
1. Resolve the main conflict
You can’t go into the resolution without solving the main problem during the climax. So make sure you do that first thing. For example, if your story is about a crime, make sure the protagonist discovers the criminal’s identity and catches them. You don’t want to resolve with the central conflict still unresolved because that means your story is nowhere near ending, which means you have yet to reach the resolution. In fact, you haven’t even reached the climax yet.
2. Fulfill the promise of the genre
Readers have certain expectations. For example, in romance novels, readers expect a happy ending in crime, and mystery readers expect the criminal to be caught and dealt with in high fantasy readers. Expect something along the lines of good triumphing over evil.
You want to fulfill this promise to your readers. So don’t give them a love story and then kill the love interest in the resolution after the characters get together. Tragic love stories are an exception, but know what’s expected from your genre and make it happen.
3. Have the main character accept their transformation
Your main character started the story with internal conflict, but they’ve also grown a lot throughout the story. They’ve transformed or discovered what they truly need to be happy. So in the resolution, they should accept who they are and come to terms with their reality. It ties into your character’s want versus need. They thought they wanted something to be happy at the start of the book. But as time passed, they learned what they truly needed to be happy.
Here’s a resolution example: Your main character starts the story wanting to party all the time to be happy. By the end of the story, they learn that what they truly need is their family’s love and support, and they accept that they have issues and are now working on them.
4. Wrap up all loose ends
This includes plot points that still need to be resolved. So in the resolution, you want to resolve them. It could be as simple as wrapping up a subplot, such as friends apologizing to each other after arguing for the majority of the book. Because you want to avoid ending the story with things hanging in the air and your readers wondering how things turned out.
5. Give readers closure
This is similar to wrapping up loose ends, but it goes a step further. It includes things mentioned throughout the book that could be considered plot holes if answered. So it’s your job to answer them in the resolution, so readers understand everything. For example, let’s say your main character discovers an anonymous letter at some point in the story. If this still needs to be answered in the resolution, make sure you answer the question, Who wrote the letter?
You don’t want readers finishing the book and then wondering, But what about the letter? Who wrote it? So answer everything readers might have questions about.
Bonus Tip: Contrast the final image with the beginning of the story
Your main character has transformed throughout the story, and so has the world around them. Let’s consider The Hunger Games for a second. Katniss starts the story poor and barely surviving with her mom and sister. But by the end of the story, Katniss has a house, and they’re well off. So we get a contrasting image of how things started and ended. We also get to see how Katniss changed internally too. You want to do the same in your story so that everything comes back full circle.
For instance, if you’re writing a romance novel, this contrast can be seen in the final image where the main character is finally with their love, whereas in the beginning, they weren’t. They were single. It’s like that for every genre and story you write. You want to contrast the end of your story and the beginning of the story.
Last Words
You shouldn’t make it the most intense part of your story or conflict because that’s the climax. Also, please don’t make it too long. The reader’s already got what they’ve come looking for. Typically, as in what they were looking for. The answer to the main problem, they were looking to see the most intense part of the conflict or story.
So please don’t make it too long because you’ll lose the reader in boredom. The resolution should only be around about 1% of the story. Apart from that, make sure to leave the main question unresolved. Make certain things get resolved. Write something convenient to get a resolution. Try and use your characters’ actions and dialogue to convey that your theme is true or that what you’re trying to say is true. Apart from that, leave the reader satisfied by fulfilling the promise of a genre.
I’d love to know, are you satisfied with your story’s resolution, or do you plan on rewriting it? Let me know in the comments. Also, remember to follow me on social media to see what I’m up to daily and chat with me. Thank you all so much for your support.
More writing tips:
How To Write A Setting For Story?
How To Write A Theme For A Story?
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