When Your Novel Ending Isn’t Working — What Might Be Wrong And How to Fix It

Endings are harder to write than beginnings, for all these reasons

Sherryl Clark - writer, editor, poet.

5 min readMar 1

--

© Sherryl Clark 2023

“This is the way the world ends,” poet T.S. Eliot said, “not with a bang but a whimper.”

You can usually rely on poetry to say it best. (This was from his poem, “The Hollow Men”.) He was talking about…

Sherryl Clark - writer, editor, poet.

Written by Sherryl Clark - writer, editor, poet.

Writer, editor, book lover — I've published many children's books and three crime novels for adults so far. I edit other people's fiction and poetry.

More from Sherryl Clark - writer, editor, poet.

Sherryl Clark - writer, editor, poet.

Why You Need to Know the Basics of a Book Contract If You Want to be Traditionally Published

Even if you have an agent, it’s your responsibility to understand your contract and discuss it

5 min readMar 23

--

Sherryl Clark - writer, editor, poet.

Why You Need to Know the Basics of Book Contracts — Part 2: Show Me The Money

It’s not just $X advance times Y% royalty rate — it’s a balancing act

7 min readMar 27

--

Sherryl Clark - writer, editor, poet.
in
The Startup

The First Ten Pages of Your Novel: What An Agent Or Publisher Really Wants

Everything your pages need to capture any reader

4 min readMay 20, 2020

--

Sherryl Clark - writer, editor, poet.
in
The Writing Cooperative

6 Reasons Why Your Fiction Writing is Boring (And How To Fix Them)

It’s rhythm and flow, but it’s much more than that

6 min readJun 29, 2022

--

See all from Sherryl Clark - writer, editor, poet.

Recommended from Medium

Writers promoting themselves at a book festival.

Janice Harayda
in
The Pub

Why Are Writers Expected To Do So Much Self-Promotion?

They now have to ‘devote themselves as much to managing their careers as to writing their books’

6 min read5 days ago

--

Mitch Horowitz

The Greatest Metaphysical Philosopher You’ve Never Heard Of

And that’s just how Vernon Howard wanted it

11 min read3 days ago

--

Lists

My Favorite Writing Advice & Inspo

16 stories53 saves

Stories To Help You Overcome Writer's Block

8 stories38 saves

Visual Storytellers Playlist

26 stories12 saves

My Kind Of Medium (All-Time Faves)

36 stories9 saves

Deya Bhattacharya
in
The Writing Cooperative

Literary Fiction Is A Long Game. Here’s How You Know You’re Up For It.

A “suitability test”, if you will

8 min read5 days ago

--

Michele Cambardella
in
Ellemeno

When Book Banning Rips into the Classics

We are in serious trouble

4 min read4 days ago

--

Shelby Sullivan

5 Advantages Of Being An Unknown Author

Photo by Ali Pazani on Unsplash

5 min readMay 22

--

Cole Haddon
in
The Writing Cooperative

Why AI Is the Most Important Issue in the Writers’ Strike

AI isn’t just central to the WGA strike either — it’s the first battle in a much larger war that will impact the entire world

15 min read5 days ago

--

See more recommendations

Help
Status
Writers
Blog
Careers
Privacy
Terms
About
Text to speech