Emily Barr: The Art of Endings

The ending of a book is the thing that will stay in your reader’s mind long after they have finished reading. A good ending will see them recommeding the book to everyone they meet. A disappointing ending, on the other hand, can colour everything that came before it. How do you make sure you end on the right note?

In this workshop Emily will look at:

• how much should you wrap up the story threads at the end of a novel?
• when should you leave things open for the reader to form their own ideas about what comes next?
• what if you’re planning to write a sequel?
• can you end on a cliffhanger?
• can a last-page twist work? 

By the end of the workshop, you’ll have an idea of the delicate balance contained within a last chapter. Whatever your genre, you’ll be confident that you’ve got it right when you come to write the magical words: ‘The End’.

Emily Barr has written twenty-four published novels and several screenplays.

Her first novel, a thriller called Backpack, won the WHSmith New Talent Award and she has twice been nominated for the Carnegie Medal.

As well as writing psychological thrillers, she has written nine YA novels, including the multi-award-winning The One Memory of Flora Banks, which was published in 27 languages and shortlisted for the YA Book Prize. Her most recent sci-fi novel, The New One, was published by Berkley in the US in 2023, and her latest YA novel, Lies We Told This Summer, was published by Penguin in May 2026.

After taking the JYS Story for Screenwriting course in 2023, she is developing several screenplays, including a mermaid horror set in Cornwall and an adaptation of her own psychological thriller novel, The Sleeper. Both have producers and directors attached: The Sleeper project was the UK winner at JETS at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2024. Emily has taught creative writing for Faber Academy, Arvon, Falmouth University, Curtis Brown Creative and The Writers’ Block. She loves nothing more than talking about writing and encouraging new writers.

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