We can finally breathe.

Or can we?
I guess it depends on your story...

The resolution sometimes feels like an afterthought when compared to the climax, but make no mistake, this bit of the story is just as important in the long run.

Speaking of running...

Have you ever read a book that has kept you going and going and going and going on the edge of your seat for HOURS?

When you finally put it down you're reticent to pick it back up because it's exhausting.

That's because the author either didn't understand the necessary part resolutions play, or deliberately chose as intense a pace as possible.

Resolutions are a pacing requirement because they provide places for the reader to catch their breath, and to bring everything together for the close of that Cathartic Climax. What goes up must come down again. That's just physics. 😉

At the end of a novel it's absolutely imperative to have a concrete resolution. Even if you end it slightly in a cliffhanger - as in a larger global plot still hasn't been resolved (Harry still hasn't defeated Voldemort) - to push into a sequel, the main conflict in the story MUST be resolved. 

And it needs to be resolved in a LOGICAL and SATISFACTORY manner.

Similar to your climax being both unexpected but inevitable. Your resolution also needs to be inevitable.

Resolutions, like every part of a story, need to be repeated in each part of the novel - beat, scene, chapter, act, global story - but, this is the one element of story which I believe is the most flexible. As in can be moved around or combined with other elements quite easily.

Often, a good way to keep readers reading is ending a scene or chapter on the Crisis/climax and beginning the next chapter (or next chapter of the same POV if you're switching POVs) with the resolution. The resolution of the previous conflict can also be the inciting incident of the next one. If done this way, story elements are often linked together in a quick and logical progression which moves the story along more quickly than otherwise.

This is definitely a pacing choice, and I suggest trying different ways of doing this. I do personally think that it's perfectly fine to do this for the smaller elements of the story (beat/scene/inter-act chapter) but each act and the global story should have resolutions which correspond with the end of a chapter rather than pushed to the beginning of the next chapter.

I believe it's helpful for the reader to have some reasonable portions of a novel where they feel it's ok to put down the book, and are still excited to pick it up again - ie they're not suffering from adrenal fatigue from too much unresolved tension.

It also allows readers to think about what they've been reading. We all need mental breaks, and breaking into a new act is the perfect place to involve more cohesive resolutions.

Let's look at a couple of literary resolutions:

Pride and Prejudice
This is a three-act story structure and is actually titled Volume 1/2/3

Resolution of Act 1, Mr. Bingley leaves for London, apparently never to return, and Mr. Collins proposes to Charlotte Lucas - inevitable because of course it can't be that easy for the eligible bachelor to marry one of the five sisters. We must see all the reasons this cannot happen first, and there is now no chance of the Bennetts keeping their home through marriage to Mr. Collins. All seems to be lost on these prospects.

Resolution of Act 2, Elizabeth and her aunt and uncle decide to visit Pemberly (Mr. Darcy's home). This is also inevitable because to this point Elizabeth has refused Darcy, read his letter, understood her own failings and those of her family, and is now in a position to rethink his character, should he behave in a gentleman-like manner.

Resolution of Act 3, Lydia marries Mr. Wickham and Elizabeth and Jane marry Darcey and Bingley at the same time. This completes the novel satisfactorily (this is a romance after all). The main crisis and climax have resolved satisfactorily: Mr. Darcy has been the means of cleaning up Lydia's mistake and thus proving his love for Elizabeth, and he has confessed to Bingley his misjudgment on the matter of his marriage to Jane. All characters have proven themselves to each other and so the story ends happily with three of five daughters married, two of them to very rich men, and Elizabeth and Jane both getting their wish of marrying for love (and happily providing for their family as well).

The ending is of course inevitable as we know we are reading a traditional romance genre. From the very beginning the expectations are set and though we have a wild ride in the middle, the end turns out just as we hoped it would for our heroine.

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If you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm going to do some Q/A chapters later on so if you've got a particular area you want help on or more information please let me know and I'll make sure to address it in a later chapter.

Your engagement is what makes this book better so I appreciate all comments and suggestions.