Have you ever been to see a movie at the cinema, and been enthralled all the way through, only to find that the ending ruins the entire experience?
No matter how great a film is, it’s always the crescendo at the end that stays with you when you walk out from the darkness, and if the last few moments let you down, you’re not able to give the film overall a good rating.
I always feel a bit let down with any film, book or article that really promises great things, and then fizzles out at the end like a damp squib.
The best films (for example the Shawshank Redemption, or the Sixth Sense) have superb twists at the end that make you feel uplifted, surprised and generally glad that you spent some of your valuable time watching them. Even Titanic, which we all know doesn’t end well, still keeps us enthralled up to the last moments, showing that you don’t even have to have an element of surprise to make a great ending.
You Want People to Remember Your Blog Post
How come, then, when endings are so obviously important to readers, movie-goers or play-watchers, do so many blog posts seem to let us down in the last few paragraphs?
All posts start out pretty promising, but the best ones grow in tempo and finish up leaving you enthused, inspired and hopefully about to change your behaviour in some way.
As blog writers, we have a certain responsibility to our readers to make sure that they are left with something valuable after they have visited our sites and spent some time with us.
Our posts need to be informative and engaging, but above all they need to pack some sort of punch at the end.
Either a call to action (Now you’ve read this, come and buy something!), or a pithy bit of wisdom that leaves our customers feeling pleased that they bothered to drop by.
One of the most fundamental errors we blog writers can make is to set out writing about something, only to lose interest half way through and finish the article with some pointless rambling, because we feel the need to fill up some page space.
We may think that writing about a certain topic is a great idea, but if we don’t do enough research, we won’t be able to fill the page with engaging copy. Because of this, it’s important to plan out your post carefully with a firm beginning, a sustainable middle, and an even better ending.
How To Inspire Your Readers…
The call to action at the end of each post is a great way of inspiring your reader.
Ask them to comment about what they have read. Share your own opinion.
Consider popping something a little newsworthy or controversial in your last paragraph, or link through to something relevant to persuade your reader to spend a little more time with you.
Remember at all times that the last paragraph of your blog post is the one that will stay with your reader long after the rest of the post has faded away.
I’m feeling a lot of pressure right now to practice what I preach here.
So, what are your views on the best way to wrap up your articles?
How do you sign off and get your readers to take action?
Let’s finish with a quote from Orson Scott Card:
“The opposite of the happy ending is not actually the sad ending–the sad ending is sometimes the happy ending. The opposite of the happy ending is actually the unsatisfying ending.”
Image : improve