How to write a crime novel, episode 13
Use the ending of each chapter of your book to really hit your reader with something that has a big impact. Same as for the opening scene, plot points one and two, the midpoint and the ending. The chapter closes will be smaller impacts than these, but by doing it all the way through your novel, you’ll keep the reader’s interest. This is how to end your chapters.
How to end your chapters in a crime novel
There are four main ways to end your chapters:
- with something that jolts the reader. Kill someone. Someone makes an unexpected demand
- Something mystifying. A clue turns up. But it’s hard to see what it really means…
- The hero makes a connection to something earlier in the novel that now makes sense
- A dilemma. The hero now knows a new bit of the puzzle, but acting on it might hurt someone else
The end of the chapter has to set the hero in motion, propelling them into the next chapter. That keeps the hero at the centre of the action.
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Elmore Leonard’s Rules for Writing