Your ending not only delivers your book’s most memorable moments but also its premise. Still, our energies tend to peter once we’ve reached the story’s climax. We’ll discuss the “unraveling” of your story, John Barth’s “Complexified Equilibrium,” Jessica Brody’s 5-point Finale, frame stories and other shapes (circles, figure eights, etc.), and character and story arcs. At the end of the session, you’ll discover new ideas for your ending and renewed energy to get it done.
Michelle Hoover has taught writing for more than 25 years and currently leads the GrubStreet Novel Incubator program, which she co-founded in 2011. Her students have signed 50+ book contracts. She is a 2014 NEA Fellow and has been a Writer-in-Residence at Brandeis University, a fellow at MacDowell, Bread Loaf, and Sewanee Writers Conferences, and a winner of the PEN/New England Discovery Award. Her debut, The Quickening, was a 2010 Massachusetts Book Award "Must Read," a finalist for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize, and one of Susan Straight's 1001 "Library of America" Novels featured in the L.A. Times. Her second novel, Bottomland, was the 2017 All Iowa Reads selection and a 2016 Mass Book "Must Read." She is the creator of The 7am Novelist, the popular podcast and webinar series for writers. She is a native of Iowa and lives in Cyprus and Boston.
