Closing Arguments

Sometimes it's hard to leave the beach after a great day of surfing. If the sun is going down, it may be a good idea to head home. One of the most important skills to master in writing is knowing when it's time to leave. If you’re writing an essay, you’ll want to be aware of the pace of the essay and understand how long you should stay as well as finding the best time to leave. Don't overstay your welcome. 

Consider writing a conclusion as much like being a guest in someone else’s home. While you don’t want to leave the scene too early, as that may cause offense or concern, you also don’t want to stay too late and impose on your host. Consider your audience, then, to be your host, and always try to consider what the audience needs when deciding how long you should stay.

Admittedly, it’s often difficult to decide how long you should stay for your audience, and you may not easily know the right answer. Some readers may expect more and some may expect less. However, with practice and experience at writing, you may gain enough of a sense of audience awareness that you can guess. Sometimes it may just “feel right” to leave at a certain time.

Still, there’s always a balance that any writer should consider when deciding when to finish an essay. A sentence or two will not be sufficient for several reasons. Think about the flow of your paragraphs and how much you’re giving the reader in each paragraph. Is what you’ve written enough to keep an easy rhythm between your paragraphs, or are you just stopping because you don’t believe you have enough to say? Consider whether adding to your conclusion might also add balance and flow.

Also think about the visual space in your paragraphs as you’re writing them. If your body paragraph is a wall of text that consumes over a page, then an overly short paragraph won’t look satisfying in comparison. The reader should be able to see that there are new thoughts that help give shape to the conclusion, and the shape should look balanced against your introduction as well as your body paragraphs.

Finally, any good conclusion should deliver that final strong sentence that should wrap up your content. The final sentence should never leave the reader wanting more, but should instead answer all of the reader’s remaining questions. Does the conclusion feel like it just suddenly stops, or does it guide the reader towards a satisfying close? The final sentence should speak with power and leave nothing left to be said.

See you next time the breeze is cool, the sun is up, and the waves roll into view! ‘Til then, hang ten!