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!
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