Deep Dive Notes: Aftermath
Collecting the notes from last week's paid subscriber call.
We talked about a LOT of different things that were off-topic (everyone’s current works-in-progress and such), but I’m only including things that are related to Aftermath. If you missed the unrecorded call, you’re welcome to join me next Wednesday for the free ProWritingAid Novel Camp session on the very same topic.
📅 Reminder:If you’re a paid subscriber, you’re welcome to join any and all of the Deep Dive calls as well as schedule 1:1 consultations with me every month. The most current links are below at the bottom of every post. 👇
⛺️ Free Novel Summer Camp ⛺️
At ProWritingAid’s Novel Camp 2026, I will be presenting a session called Stick the Landing: How to Create a Cathartic and Satisfying Conclusion. Here’re the deetz:
There’s a lot to consider about THE END before (and maybe after) you type those words … for each novel. Are you sure you got everything? Do you know what to check for? Do you know how to even check? Join us for some satisfying tools and scintillating conversation about how to know you’re done when you’re done.
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Narrative Unit Primer
In case you missed it or forgot, I define every unit of story in four phases. This applies to the global story, the global plot, each sequence of the story, and each scene and its constituent beats. Today, we’re talking about the fourth of those phases.
Ignition
Combustion
Detonation
Aftermath
If you need/want a refresher, here’s the post where I introduce the basic concepts and the post where I blather on about breadth of the resolution (a.k.a. aftermath):
Catharsis
Aftermath is where catharsis lives, that rush of emotion that your reader craves.
Your aftermath must be surprising but inevitable. 🤯
Promises
Aftermath is where you keep (or break) all the promises you’ve made so far … and possibly make new ones.
Keep Your Promises. Break Your Promises.
A working aftermath must keep or break at least one promise that was made in this unit of story. For example, in a scene, if your stakes include life-or-death, we need to see who lives or dies (or at least comes close).
We didn’t really get a chance to talk about breaking promises on purpose. I’ll cover that in the Novel Camp session and in the Scene Stormers workshop in detail.
Make New Promises
If you can open a loop or create a setup in your aftermath that creates a possibility for the future without derailing, undermining, or subverting your unit of story entirely, it’s a good thing to do in the aftermath so that you have a sense of forward motion.
Minimum Viable Aftermath
We talked about the minimum you have to accomplish in the aftermath, and then we ran out of time to discuss these other concepts that I’ll be covering in the Novel Camp session and the Scene Stormers workshop in depth and detail.
Rewards and Consequences
Change Happens. Value Shifts.
Front-Loaded versus Back-Loaded Aftermath
Bittersweet Is Obligatory
Reminder: Scene Stormers Is Coming!
Beginning in September 2026, several of my favorite peers and I will begin teaching a six-week scene writing bootcamp that we are affectionately branding as Scene Stormers. We will be discussing the well-known fundamentals of fiction writing that all the cool kids since Aristotle first wrote down that stories need a beginning, a muddle (my term), and an end in The Poetics and we will be giving you human-generated feedback on your scenes.
We (Scene Stormers) are currently assembling our curriculum and we will be publishing it all in advance, because (Spoiler Alert! ⚠️) there are no secrets in storytelling. The primary value that we provide to you (our customers) is the weekly discussions during the six-week bootcamp and the one-on-one human feedback on your writing every week.
📚 For the inaugural workshop, we’re using Hunger Games as our masterwork.
📅 If you’d like to be invited to our inaugural bootcamp in September, sign up now. The inaugural cohort will only accept 20 writers…
Want Help With Your Aftermath?
Sometimes, sticking the landing can be hard. Taking stock of all of your promises made. Lining up all your dominoes. Closing all your loops. Paying off all your setups. If you’d like help with that, call me and let’s chat about how I can help you with the aftermath in your story.
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