Finish a Chapter

This week's tip is to forge ahead and finish a chapter. Some chapters are easier to complete than others. Some have ending paragraphs and sentences with just the right amount of a hook or lead into the next chapter. But others slip off the page like wet noodles and land in a clump of narrative garb on the next, with no element of suspense, surprise or even serendipity. This will invariably leave the reader uninterested or frustrated and you, the author, confused as to why the story isn't coming together. So here's the run down: One, finish the chapter. Two, start the next chapter. Three, read the last page of said chapter and the first page of the next chapter to see if it makes sense to have a chapter break at that point. Four, make sure the ending of one chapter and the beginning of the next are seamless yet purposeful. Try picking up a pile of your favorite novels and read the beginning and ending pages of each chapter, looking for interesting patterns and clues. Take special note of the last paragraph, sentence, word and punctuation of a chapter in relation to the first word, sentence, paragraph and punctuation of the next. If, for some unexplained reason, your stomach starts to growl, it could be the pasta. Your best plan of action at this point is to douse the page with your favorite marinara or pesto sauce and shovel it in, with a resolve to start fresh tomorrow.