Here are five more ways to end an article or story. These may also be used for book chapters. When you go back and edit your article, story, or book chapter, it is good to vary your endings. However endings serve different purposes in articles than in books. It is important to bring your ending to a good solid conclusion in articles and stories. Regarding book chapters though, you want to leave your readers hanging at the end of each chapter, except the last one, so they will want to continue reading.
4. The Play on Words – Sometimes alliteration, a slogan, or a catchy phrase sticks the longest with the reader.
“Pastor Ananda’s burden for his flock, however heavy, is carried with joy and compassion. It fits him well. Each of us has our own divinely designed yoke—our own job to do. Suddenly I felt a renewed strength to wear the yoke God has fashioned for me” (“Pastor Ananda” Potpourri of Praise , WinePress).
5. The Quote Close – Use a quote taken from a subject, history, or other source of quotations to add finality to the article.
“Angelic flames of light and heavenly choirs, accompanied by celestial harps and trumpets, turned a scene of earthly tragedy into a scene of heavenly triumph. From what they saw that day, and from ‘God’s Carvings’, the Aucas learned what the Psalmist wrote: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints” (Psalm 116:15, “Dawa’s Story,” Potpourri of Praise).
6. The Add-On – This close can make a point never made in the story—a shocker or something that seems natural for making your final point.
“As we walked toward the refreshment table together, I realized that my lack of forgiveness had cost us both a great price” (“Forget and Forgive,” Rest Stops for Single Mothers).
7. The Anecdotal Ending – You can either end with an anecdote or use the split-anecdote technique in which you start the anecdote in the lead (or the middle somewhere) and complete it in the closing.
“Looking back over the past ten years, I never dreamed my life would take the path it has. When all I had to hold onto was a thread linking me to God, I learned to step out in faith and to take risks. If I had not been forced to earn a living, I never would have developed my current programs and ministries. After six years of being a single parent, I am now blessed with a supportive husband and a thriving business (“A Thousand Ways,” Rest Stops for Single Mothers).
8. The Natural Close – Let your story end naturally. You’ve told your story. Stop.
“When Mobin visits foreign cities, as he was doing that day in the Maldive Islands, he still tells people, ‘I collect telephone directories. Do you have one I can take home with me?'” (“Telephone Directories,” Potpourri of Praise).
The last four types of endings will be given in my next post.