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The Last Fifty Pages: The Art and Craft of Unforgettable Endings
“The first page of a book sells that book. The last page sells your next book.” –– Mickey Spillane What are the secrets for writing a great ending for your novel? How do you leave readers so satisfied that they'll want another book by you—right now? What tools and techniques can shape your last fifty pages into a powerful, unforgettable experience? In this book, International Thriller Writers Award winner and #1 bestselling writing teacher James Scott Bell • The five types of endings. • What needs to happen in Act 3. • How to use the Ah and Uh-Oh emotional wallops. • A simple technique for crafting twist endings. • The most important secret of all—resonance. • The Stew, Brew, Accrue, Do brainstorming method. • The best way to tie up loose ends. • The most common ending mistakes, and how to avoid them. And more. Read this book and you will come away with a thorough knowledge of why great endings work and how to create them for every novel you write.
110 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2019
About the author
James Scott Bell
122 books1,001 followersJim is a former trial lawyer who now writes and speaks full time. He is the bestselling author of Try Dying, No Legal Grounds, Presumed Guilty, Glimpses of Paradise, Breach of Promise and several other thrillers. He is a winner of the Christy Award for Excellence in Inspirational Fiction, and was a fiction columnist for Writers Digest magazine. He has written two books in the Writers' Digest series, Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure and Revision & Self-Editing.
Jim has taught writing at Pepperdine University and numerous writers conferences. He attended the University of California, Santa Barbara where he studied writing with Raymond Carver.
Series:
* Shannon Saga (with Tracie Peterson)
* The Trials of Kit Shannon
* Ty Buchanan
Jim has taught writing at Pepperdine University and numerous writers conferences. He attended the University of California, Santa Barbara where he studied writing with Raymond Carver.
Series:
* Shannon Saga (with Tracie Peterson)
* The Trials of Kit Shannon
* Ty Buchanan
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
April 3, 2019
A good and insightful book on making sure you know what the ending is going to be before getting started. The author exhorts that a good and satisfying ending not only will leave the reader glad to have read your book but will also want them to buy the next one. I have found this to be true in my reading as well. A book that has a nebulous finish or worse... leaves you at the point where the story hasn't come to a conclusion but will be continued in the next book really leaves me feeling gypped and pissed off. Overall a quick book with good information.
March 1, 2019
As always, I love Bell's books on writing. Of necessity, this book summarizes some of the information from his other writing books.
If you haven't read any of Bell's writing books, I'd say start with SUPER STRUCTURE and WRITE YOUR NOVEL FROM THE MIDDLE first. Then read this one. His PLOT AND STRUCTURE is invaluable and must have. If you have read Bell's work, then be prepared for a review, which depending on your temperament is either a lovely review and a place to skim.
There are some golden nuggets on how to write the last fifty pages. I'm a writer who needs to know the end of the book before I can write. The couple times when I've tried to be a write-by-the-seat-of-my-pants girl, I wind up with a muddled-middle and a predictable end. Even someone who writes without an outline could glean some good advice from this book.
If you haven't read any of Bell's writing books, I'd say start with SUPER STRUCTURE and WRITE YOUR NOVEL FROM THE MIDDLE first. Then read this one. His PLOT AND STRUCTURE is invaluable and must have. If you have read Bell's work, then be prepared for a review, which depending on your temperament is either a lovely review and a place to skim.
There are some golden nuggets on how to write the last fifty pages. I'm a writer who needs to know the end of the book before I can write. The couple times when I've tried to be a write-by-the-seat-of-my-pants girl, I wind up with a muddled-middle and a predictable end. Even someone who writes without an outline could glean some good advice from this book.
May 10, 2019
This is a short book but long enough to do justice to the topic. I appreciated the examples and the "try this" suggestions (and the humour). Definitely picked up a few pointers that should improve my craft.
September 4, 2020
Simple, to the point, great examples as always. Great food for thought.
September 12, 2020
I read this during the writing of a book, and it really gave me a lot to think about plotting the ending. I think it helped me write a more satisfying book.
January 7, 2021
Quick, insightful book!
August 17, 2019
Bell has quite the back catalogue of writing books that I have only scratched the surface of, however I'm happy to have dived into The Last 50 Pages. Simple and straightforward Bell makes sense of the importance of endings, different types of endings and how best to craft them.
I wouldn't say there was anything revolutionary or ultimately life-changing about The Last 50 Pages, but its nice to read a book with a pleasant balance of humour and information without being overwhelmed in detail and craft analysis.
I wouldn't say there was anything revolutionary or ultimately life-changing about The Last 50 Pages, but its nice to read a book with a pleasant balance of humour and information without being overwhelmed in detail and craft analysis.
April 4, 2021
This review contains no spoilers. In fact, it might protect you from unintentional spoilers.
As a person who enjoys writing fiction, I like to pick up books like this one from time to time to read some good advice from quality teachers, as well as to gain some inspiration and insight that can assist me with some of the stories I've written (or those I am in the process of writing). This brisk read did give me some helpful ideas to consider for the piece I'm currently working on, especially since I am about to start writing the ending. I have several ideas that I am considering now as I work to wrap up this particular short story.
I liked the loose and humorous manner in which the material was presented, but I would caution that the author very reasonably chooses to present notable examples from other books and movies to help drive home how excellent endings should work. For many of these (like Casablanca and The Great Gatsby), I was familiar with the endings so I was comfortable reading them and comparing them to my own recollections as a means of synthesizing the material. But there were other books that I have on my shelf and that I intend to read (like The Woman in the Window and The Maltese Falcon), and I pretty much skipped over these, gliding to the end of the segment to get the gist of the lesson but not interacting with it as much as I did for the others.
My only other minor complaint is that I wasn't familiar with the author's other works, and he referenced them repeatedly, particularly his work with story structure. At times, it felt like this relatively short volume was sort of an advertisement for his other (possibly longer and more expensive?) books, a "first hit's free" teaser that was meant to serve as a gateway to keep buying more and more books in order to complete the whole picture. I don't doubt, in fact, that this is an important part of the overall strategy, and I don't necessarily begrudge the author this approach. It felt too obvious and visible at times, for sure, but the truth is I kept reading, and I kept musing on the good points that were made.
Ultimately, the final ruling on whether this somewhat blatant sales strategy was more off-putting or more enticing can be based on what I did when I finished. Was it, in the end, the lady or the tiger? Final evidence that I enjoyed and absorbed the teachings of The Last Fifty Pages: I'm quite pleased that Super Structure (by the same author) was available at a very reasonable price on my Kindle.
As a person who enjoys writing fiction, I like to pick up books like this one from time to time to read some good advice from quality teachers, as well as to gain some inspiration and insight that can assist me with some of the stories I've written (or those I am in the process of writing). This brisk read did give me some helpful ideas to consider for the piece I'm currently working on, especially since I am about to start writing the ending. I have several ideas that I am considering now as I work to wrap up this particular short story.
I liked the loose and humorous manner in which the material was presented, but I would caution that the author very reasonably chooses to present notable examples from other books and movies to help drive home how excellent endings should work. For many of these (like Casablanca and The Great Gatsby), I was familiar with the endings so I was comfortable reading them and comparing them to my own recollections as a means of synthesizing the material. But there were other books that I have on my shelf and that I intend to read (like The Woman in the Window and The Maltese Falcon), and I pretty much skipped over these, gliding to the end of the segment to get the gist of the lesson but not interacting with it as much as I did for the others.
My only other minor complaint is that I wasn't familiar with the author's other works, and he referenced them repeatedly, particularly his work with story structure. At times, it felt like this relatively short volume was sort of an advertisement for his other (possibly longer and more expensive?) books, a "first hit's free" teaser that was meant to serve as a gateway to keep buying more and more books in order to complete the whole picture. I don't doubt, in fact, that this is an important part of the overall strategy, and I don't necessarily begrudge the author this approach. It felt too obvious and visible at times, for sure, but the truth is I kept reading, and I kept musing on the good points that were made.
Ultimately, the final ruling on whether this somewhat blatant sales strategy was more off-putting or more enticing can be based on what I did when I finished. Was it, in the end, the lady or the tiger? Final evidence that I enjoyed and absorbed the teachings of The Last Fifty Pages: I'm quite pleased that Super Structure (by the same author) was available at a very reasonable price on my Kindle.
February 28, 2021
This is a decent read if you want to know more about endings, but for it felt a bit underwhelming. I had just hoped for a bit more. Or maybe that's because I am not a writer, even tough I like to read writing related books.
At times the book offers some common wisdom or shares advice that feels like it would only work for certain type of writers. I liked the piece with the different types of endings, even tough you can think of these yourself probably, it was nice to have the overview.
The author also does a great job of including plenty of examples. In my opinion there were a bit too many examples tough. And not only that, but examples for endings are hard to really get if you haven't read the whole book. You just don't really get the same understanding of the plot and who is who to get why the ending works. The author did try to explain the main figures and background so you would get the ending, but with most of the examples being for books and movies I hadn't read or watched it was still tough to really get the examples at times.
There were parts that related more to the how to come up with your ending and plot things out and other parts that deal more with the technicalities/ possibilities of how and ending can be. There are some good tips and advice, but overall I was just hoping for a bit more somehow. The writing style is pleasant to follow and read.
To summarize: While this book didn't fully work for me, I do think it gives a nice overview of what an ending should do, different types of endings and advice on how to write an ending. There are some good pieces of advice and I liked the writing style. Some advice seems to mostly tailor to certain type of authors tough. I also felt like there were too many examples in the book and some of the examples where hard to get if you don't know the books and movies mentioned.
At times the book offers some common wisdom or shares advice that feels like it would only work for certain type of writers. I liked the piece with the different types of endings, even tough you can think of these yourself probably, it was nice to have the overview.
The author also does a great job of including plenty of examples. In my opinion there were a bit too many examples tough. And not only that, but examples for endings are hard to really get if you haven't read the whole book. You just don't really get the same understanding of the plot and who is who to get why the ending works. The author did try to explain the main figures and background so you would get the ending, but with most of the examples being for books and movies I hadn't read or watched it was still tough to really get the examples at times.
There were parts that related more to the how to come up with your ending and plot things out and other parts that deal more with the technicalities/ possibilities of how and ending can be. There are some good tips and advice, but overall I was just hoping for a bit more somehow. The writing style is pleasant to follow and read.
To summarize: While this book didn't fully work for me, I do think it gives a nice overview of what an ending should do, different types of endings and advice on how to write an ending. There are some good pieces of advice and I liked the writing style. Some advice seems to mostly tailor to certain type of authors tough. I also felt like there were too many examples in the book and some of the examples where hard to get if you don't know the books and movies mentioned.
May 21, 2019
Meh. I was really hoping this would be great, especially just having finished the author's "write from the middle" book which was truly exceptional. But, having read some of the author's other books, there was a lot of repetition in this book. Don't get me wrong, repetition is how we learn, but reading these books back to back was not very valuable. It wasn't a repetition of the same concept in a different way or new angle, so much as just a copy paste of the same exact words I had just read. And that kind of repetition doesn't get you very far.
For much of the book I was kind of feeling like I wanted my money back. I thought there would be some brilliant insight I would gain about endings and a list of actionable items of how to make my current book's ending better right now, but there really wasn't.
I was teetering on 2 stars or 3 stars, and I decided on 3 just because the author does have some good exercises in the book to help you develop certain skills to do with book endings--and I suppose if you haven't read his other books this will all be new information. So there may be some value to other readers than myself.
For much of the book I was kind of feeling like I wanted my money back. I thought there would be some brilliant insight I would gain about endings and a list of actionable items of how to make my current book's ending better right now, but there really wasn't.
I was teetering on 2 stars or 3 stars, and I decided on 3 just because the author does have some good exercises in the book to help you develop certain skills to do with book endings--and I suppose if you haven't read his other books this will all be new information. So there may be some value to other readers than myself.
March 8, 2019
“Well, beginnings are easy. Endings are hard. But when they work—magic.”
I am a big fan of James Scott Bell’s writing books. His teaching style is straightforward, and his advice practical and easy to implement.
In this book, JSB suggests knowing the shape of the ending and working toward it, while writing the other scenes. He identifies five ending shapes: lead wins, lead loses, lead sacrifices, lead “wins” but really loses, and open-ended. He addresses common ending problems, brainstorming endings, and making endings meaningful and resonant.
While JSB covers some of the same ground from his other books (e.g. his LOCK system and plotting from the middle), there’s plenty of good advice for creating robust endings.
I am a big fan of James Scott Bell’s writing books. His teaching style is straightforward, and his advice practical and easy to implement.
In this book, JSB suggests knowing the shape of the ending and working toward it, while writing the other scenes. He identifies five ending shapes: lead wins, lead loses, lead sacrifices, lead “wins” but really loses, and open-ended. He addresses common ending problems, brainstorming endings, and making endings meaningful and resonant.
While JSB covers some of the same ground from his other books (e.g. his LOCK system and plotting from the middle), there’s plenty of good advice for creating robust endings.
May 15, 2020
More of a 3.5. Not because the information isn’t valuable (it is) but because it focuses a lot more on describing the modes of well-written endings than the analysis. Now, the analysis is there, but I do feel it could be more substantial.
To the book’s merit, it does provide writing exercises to help writers work within the modes it discusses. Also a short read, for what that’s worth to you. Perfectly readable in less than two hours.
To the book’s merit, it does provide writing exercises to help writers work within the modes it discusses. Also a short read, for what that’s worth to you. Perfectly readable in less than two hours.
July 17, 2020
Bell offers pithy, punny and pointed advice on avoiding the disappointing finales--can't really call them "conclusions"--that are all too common in contemporary novels. Keep your deus in your machina, don't let anything out of your blue, and please let us know what has changed since the beginning.
June 11, 2019
Fellow authors Dover Whitecliff and T.E. MacArthur and I had a mini writing retreat last week. T.E. gave Dover and me each a copy of this book, as she had found it to be quite helpful in her writing.
While the volume is slim, it is packed with advice on the various types of endings, how to use them properly and, importantly, what to avoid (e.g., deus ex machina, which readers find dissatisfying in the extreme).
I believe that we are never too far advanced to learn something new about our craft. This book gave me some great ideas for my current work in progress and I look forward to implementing what I learned.
While the volume is slim, it is packed with advice on the various types of endings, how to use them properly and, importantly, what to avoid (e.g., deus ex machina, which readers find dissatisfying in the extreme).
I believe that we are never too far advanced to learn something new about our craft. This book gave me some great ideas for my current work in progress and I look forward to implementing what I learned.
August 1, 2024
He never disappoints
James Scott Bell is a Master Jedi at teaching and explaining the craft of writing.
Clear examples.
He explaines the parts of novels like a mechanic talks about an engine. What each part does and why it is important.
He also writes a Sunday column at The Kill Zone (TKZ).
Highly recommend his stuff if writing is your thing.
James Scott Bell is a Master Jedi at teaching and explaining the craft of writing.
Clear examples.
He explaines the parts of novels like a mechanic talks about an engine. What each part does and why it is important.
He also writes a Sunday column at The Kill Zone (TKZ).
Highly recommend his stuff if writing is your thing.
March 10, 2019
There are a lot of writing books on the market. All of them use examples from movies and books to illustrate their points. Most of the time I am unfamiliar with the example sources. For some reason, Bell's book's examples were ones I was very familiar with. This made the book far more useful to me. His breakdown of ending types and how to set them up was one of the most logical analyses of why some books leave you with the feeling of having found a great read.
December 31, 2019
This is a wonderful examination of everything that should go into the ending of a book, along with a ton of useful tips to really make it shine.
February 16, 2021
Good reminders about staying focused and organized throughout the creative process.
July 17, 2022
A book for authors about how to plot the endings of novels
A good book of solid advice on the importance of endings and how authors should think about the endings of their novels.
A good book of solid advice on the importance of endings and how authors should think about the endings of their novels.
September 16, 2022
A fantastic book on writing. A great addition to James Scott Bell’s other writing craft books. Very insightful!
July 28, 2019
Full of helpful advice!
May 6, 2019
In boxing, there's a saying: "Stealing a round."
"Stealing a round" is when someone uses the last thirty seconds of a three-minute round to punch so much or so hard that they erase whatever negative impression they left in the eyes of the crowd and the judges in the preceding two-and-one-half-minutes. For good or ill, the fight is many times won or lost based on the last thing people remember, not the first, or even what happens in the middle.
"The Last Fifty Pages" is a book that addresses how to finish off a book, and more importantly, how not to end a story. As with most of the good "How-To" books, it's not heavy-handed or didactic. Mr. Bell's tone is conversational, and he allows that for all the "rules" he comes up with, there are exceptions and circumnavigations galore to prove the exception.
His trove of references runs the gambit from "The Godfather" (the Puzo book and the Coppola film) to "Casablanca" and J.D. Salinger. You can read the book in an hour or two, but that doesn't mean that it isn't substantive.
I got enough out of it to recommend it. And it's the kind of thing you can come back to again and again.
Recommended.
"Stealing a round" is when someone uses the last thirty seconds of a three-minute round to punch so much or so hard that they erase whatever negative impression they left in the eyes of the crowd and the judges in the preceding two-and-one-half-minutes. For good or ill, the fight is many times won or lost based on the last thing people remember, not the first, or even what happens in the middle.
"The Last Fifty Pages" is a book that addresses how to finish off a book, and more importantly, how not to end a story. As with most of the good "How-To" books, it's not heavy-handed or didactic. Mr. Bell's tone is conversational, and he allows that for all the "rules" he comes up with, there are exceptions and circumnavigations galore to prove the exception.
His trove of references runs the gambit from "The Godfather" (the Puzo book and the Coppola film) to "Casablanca" and J.D. Salinger. You can read the book in an hour or two, but that doesn't mean that it isn't substantive.
I got enough out of it to recommend it. And it's the kind of thing you can come back to again and again.
Recommended.
February 26, 2019
Although much of this is a rework of many of James Scott Bells Books, as he does seem to work with the same material; Casablanca, On the Waterfront, The Maltese Falcon and Huckleberry Finn, he does it in a way that makes it interesting to an author. You may not agree with every premise, but you can see how he arrives at his remarks about taking the time to write an ending that matters.
James Scott Bell is an author's author. He's been in the trenches of writing for a long time, he's written an almost library full of books on writing. I would prescribe this book to every author, budding or otherwise to read this, and perhaps, pull it out when you hit the last fifty pages.
James Scott Bell is an author's author. He's been in the trenches of writing for a long time, he's written an almost library full of books on writing. I would prescribe this book to every author, budding or otherwise to read this, and perhaps, pull it out when you hit the last fifty pages.
February 21, 2019
A Must For Every Writer's Toolbox
The author has a very engaging teaching style and a wicked sense of humor. I loved how he used examples of novel endings to support his advice. It really made this book a joy to read. Whether you're writing your first book or your fiftieth, The Last Fifty Pages will change how you look at endings, setting ablaze a fire that propels your writing to the next level (and there's always a next level), forcing you to push harder to create the most memorable ending you've ever written. Don't miss this one, writers. It's pure gold!
The author has a very engaging teaching style and a wicked sense of humor. I loved how he used examples of novel endings to support his advice. It really made this book a joy to read. Whether you're writing your first book or your fiftieth, The Last Fifty Pages will change how you look at endings, setting ablaze a fire that propels your writing to the next level (and there's always a next level), forcing you to push harder to create the most memorable ending you've ever written. Don't miss this one, writers. It's pure gold!
June 2, 2020
It’s not a bad book, got me thinking about the end of the novel I‘m writing. But it’s a lazy book, that cites too many endings way too long and wastes many many pages to show tiny details that you would also get without proof that some successful author also did this.
Also, I basically knew all the information before, as the author has read and rehashes the standard literature on literature. Not sure if I‘ve learned anything.
Also, I basically knew all the information before, as the author has read and rehashes the standard literature on literature. Not sure if I‘ve learned anything.
July 15, 2020
This is a good book with some valuable tips. I value certain aspects enough to listen to it twice while bookmarking, and highlighting the eBook version in my Kindle. This may have been more valuable to me than to others, and there are a few aspects that are the cause.
1. I like that the book was short, yet the examples were often too long, at times they overshadowed the pieces that I needed most. Those nuggets that I wanted (about the ending) were spread throughout other parts that could have been shortened or even omitted. I am NOT a fan of releasing many short books that should be a single complete book, but many do it and I'm sure it earns more money. But the resulting duplicated context and redundant examples make it more work to glean what I really needed from the book. If I end up authoring a series of short instructional books, I'll provide a distilled section for those who don't want all the redundancy and context... for example, this book should have a section that is ONLY about the last 50 pages.
2. Bell did a great job with narrating the book, yet the actual recording has a slight echo (like it was in a small room with no baffling - like a small office or a bathroom). That was distracting for a while. It wasn't a heavily delayed echo (which would be MUCH worse) but it was very evident to me. It provided a great example to me of the value of baffling for speech recordings. Thanks!
So I listened to this twice, dropping bookmarks and highlighting the eBook version so I can skip directly to the parts I need and adopt those valuable pieces.
The parts that are helpful are worth the work to get them. I'm still grateful to Bell for this book, and for me, the gems in it are well worth the work to get them. Many won't want to do that, and my review is not a personal log. So, as a recommendation to others, I have to warn you of the sifting required to get to the gems. Having said that, I do recommend this.
1. I like that the book was short, yet the examples were often too long, at times they overshadowed the pieces that I needed most. Those nuggets that I wanted (about the ending) were spread throughout other parts that could have been shortened or even omitted. I am NOT a fan of releasing many short books that should be a single complete book, but many do it and I'm sure it earns more money. But the resulting duplicated context and redundant examples make it more work to glean what I really needed from the book. If I end up authoring a series of short instructional books, I'll provide a distilled section for those who don't want all the redundancy and context... for example, this book should have a section that is ONLY about the last 50 pages.
2. Bell did a great job with narrating the book, yet the actual recording has a slight echo (like it was in a small room with no baffling - like a small office or a bathroom). That was distracting for a while. It wasn't a heavily delayed echo (which would be MUCH worse) but it was very evident to me. It provided a great example to me of the value of baffling for speech recordings. Thanks!
So I listened to this twice, dropping bookmarks and highlighting the eBook version so I can skip directly to the parts I need and adopt those valuable pieces.
The parts that are helpful are worth the work to get them. I'm still grateful to Bell for this book, and for me, the gems in it are well worth the work to get them. Many won't want to do that, and my review is not a personal log. So, as a recommendation to others, I have to warn you of the sifting required to get to the gems. Having said that, I do recommend this.
April 1, 2019
I learned to trust JSB since I first heard him speak at the Craftfest sessions at Thrillerfest in NYC. Since then I have read both his thrillers and his nonfiction on the craft of writing. This is one of my favorites.
The title is a nod to a book on the craft I've had on my bookshelf for nearly twenty years--Noah Lukeman's The First Five Pages. Bell's method here is instructive and inspiring. He dissects the endings of many popular books and films including The Maltese Falcon, The Godfather, The Hunger Games, Huckleberry Finn, and others you'll immediately be familiar with. His examples demonstrate the truth in his advice. Writers can ignore him at their own peril. I'll choose to listen.
I found the information and tips Bell shares to be timeless and extremely helpful to my own writing. I'll definitely check out more of his books, both fiction and nonfiction.
The title is a nod to a book on the craft I've had on my bookshelf for nearly twenty years--Noah Lukeman's The First Five Pages. Bell's method here is instructive and inspiring. He dissects the endings of many popular books and films including The Maltese Falcon, The Godfather, The Hunger Games, Huckleberry Finn, and others you'll immediately be familiar with. His examples demonstrate the truth in his advice. Writers can ignore him at their own peril. I'll choose to listen.
I found the information and tips Bell shares to be timeless and extremely helpful to my own writing. I'll definitely check out more of his books, both fiction and nonfiction.
May 21, 2019
A nice little guide to set you on the right path
I liked that this was a short read but I also liked that there were plenty of examples with popular titles to help drive the point and allow us to ask ourselves how we felt about an ending and why.
Often times people may assume that the reason the ending of a book or show isn’t liked is because the book, movie, or show, didn’t end the way the viewer or reader wanted when in fact it was because the ending wasn’t satisfactory and this is due to the story. Did the route to the end of the story make sense for each character? Did the character deserve or earn the ending that they’ve received?
As James Scott Bell notes in this book: Endings are hard.
I liked that this was a short read but I also liked that there were plenty of examples with popular titles to help drive the point and allow us to ask ourselves how we felt about an ending and why.
Often times people may assume that the reason the ending of a book or show isn’t liked is because the book, movie, or show, didn’t end the way the viewer or reader wanted when in fact it was because the ending wasn’t satisfactory and this is due to the story. Did the route to the end of the story make sense for each character? Did the character deserve or earn the ending that they’ve received?
As James Scott Bell notes in this book: Endings are hard.
June 25, 2024
A short book, but it is outstanding. I enjoy reading teh writing books that demonstrate the grit, the logic, and the craft involved in propulsively organizing words on a page. The more there is a discussion of 'art' - with or without the Capital A - the less I am likely to give the book credibility.
This is a great book because it explores how endings are produced from the middle. While Stephen King does not configure an ending before he begins, James Scott Bell shows the benefits of this strategy. He also demonstrates how to teleologically re-edit from the ending.
A fascinating book. I think about plot differently now.
This is a great book because it explores how endings are produced from the middle. While Stephen King does not configure an ending before he begins, James Scott Bell shows the benefits of this strategy. He also demonstrates how to teleologically re-edit from the ending.
A fascinating book. I think about plot differently now.
September 14, 2024
Book Review: The Last Fifty Pages: The Art and Craft of Unforgettable Endings
James Scott Bell’s The Last Fifty Pages is like that friend who shows up with coffee just when you’re about to give up on your manuscript's ending. Packed with practical advice and examples, Bell breaks down how to make your finale unforgettable without sending you into a creative meltdown.
He helped me tie up my debut novel’s last act with less hair-pulling and more "aha" moments. It’s witty, straightforward, and a breeze to read—exactly what you need when staring down the last pages of your book.
Verdict: A life-saver for any writer stuck in the final stretch.
James Scott Bell’s The Last Fifty Pages is like that friend who shows up with coffee just when you’re about to give up on your manuscript's ending. Packed with practical advice and examples, Bell breaks down how to make your finale unforgettable without sending you into a creative meltdown.
He helped me tie up my debut novel’s last act with less hair-pulling and more "aha" moments. It’s witty, straightforward, and a breeze to read—exactly what you need when staring down the last pages of your book.
Verdict: A life-saver for any writer stuck in the final stretch.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews