When starting out writing books with chapters there is one problem that everyone seems to encounter. That problem is how to end a chapter — without losing your reader.
So let’s deal with how to end a chapter first.
When writing books with chapters, the whole point of a chapter is to organize your information. Think of a chapter as a small argument in the overall argument which is your book.
Because it is an argument of its own, it needs its own introduction and hook and it also needs its own conclusion.
So part of the answer is that chapters end with a conclusion. But what do you need to include in the conclusion?
The first answer is to summarize the chapter. So far in the chapter, you’ve been making an argument or presenting facts that support an argument. So what are the key facts? Why are they important?
The second answer is to extend those facts. What do they imply? Why are they important? What will happen if you ignore them? What will happen if you pay attention to them? Predict the future.
The third answer is to make a conclusion. In other words, make a decision based on those facts and state it. Be strong in your decision. Predict what will happen if the decision is ignored. Predict what will happen if the decision is followed.
The fourth answer is to appeal to the reader’s emotions. How should the reader feel about the information that has been presented? How do you, the author, feel about the information? How do you feel about the predicted results?
Which version of conclusion you use, or which combination for that matter, is a choice you as writer must make.
But no matter which version you choose there will still be a problem. The conclusion by its nature tells the reader “Stop reading, I’m finished”. Which of course, you don’t really want to happen unless this is the final chapter.
The way to overcome this is with a paragraph called a transition.
The transition is a paragraph which hints at what is coming. Its task is to keep the reader reading. In effect it sets up the hook in the next introduction. It can do this in many ways including providing a glimpse of what is coming. In other words, by tweaking the reader’s curiosity. Think of it as a hook for the hook. Its sole purpose is to make the reader curious about what will happen next. This technique reached its height in the movie serial where the hero was always facing certain death at the end of week 1. And of course, having a split second reprieve at the beginning of week 2. This technique would go on for the whole run of the series.
So when writing books with chapters, the answer to the question of how to end a chapter; is to end it with the hook to the next chapter.