on Writers Helping Writers:

Okay, fair warning—what you’re about to learn in this article might spoil movies, TV shows, and books for you forever. BUT—as a writer, you have to peel back the mechanics of story to understand how to make your book awesome, so even if you hate spoilers you’re going to love having the inside track on this one.

The secret you may or may not have ever noticed is that many times, the beginning and ending of stories are paired or mirrored in some way. The untrained audience or reader doesn’t notice that the story is complete. That it’s come full circle. They just know they like it. The good news is, applying this technique to your novel isn’t that difficult, and can mean the difference between a reader finishing your last sentence with a solid “meh”, or experiencing a profound emotional payoff, leaving them thinking about your book for days and weeks after, whether the ending was happy or sad.

Let’s look at how beginnings and endings work, why pairing them is so effective, and the steps you can take to craft your own.