A writer friend suggests looking at Harry Potter 7, since Rowling has a tie-up chapter at the very end. Rereading that last chapter, it looks like JKR has one scene (parents seeing kids off to school from train station) and gets most of her info in by showing the current relationships (who ended up with whom), and gets the rest in via dialogue. None of it is as clunky or "telling" as what I have. And I currently have two scenes, sort of. Hmm. Why is it that JKR can tie up seven books in one scene without telling, but it's taking me two scenes and a ton of telling to tie up my one book?

Let's see. She brings almost everybody into the same scene at once. I might be able to do that, but will it work? Because I'm thinking that what she mostly shows is who's married now and who has kids. That doesn't require much explanation; we've known these characters a long time and we already know what to expect and look for. Mine just seems more complicated; maybe that's because I'm too immersed in it and am overthinking. But it could be because I have to explain...OH!--I notice something. She uses a setting and scenario (kids off to school) we are very familiar with. We've seen it in the beginning of almost every book. I'm in a new setting, unfamiliar to the reader. My character has moved from an old life to a new one. Now, I was semi-thinking about bringing him back around home at the end; it feels like it might be the right thing. But it also feels kind of boring. However, I'm already bored because the story's over, so that might not mean anything.

Well. I dunno. Must mull it over. I can't write till late this afternoon anyway.