The End of All Things, or the Beginning?

Do you:

  1. start writing at the beginning of your novel?
  2. write the ending first?

I know it sounds crazy, but there is some merit in having the final page all sewn up before you’ve written the bulk of your novel!

the end written in the sand

The reason . . . you can be absolutely sure that every scene of your story is working towards the final outcome.

Sure, you may not want to write your ending before your beginning . . . but most of us have at least a general idea how our story is going to turn out before we ever put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard :-)), so writing the ending first (or maybe after the first chapter or two, when you’ve got your scene set) isn’t as daft as it sounds. And it might save a lot of meandering around the middle.

Here’s an exercise for you: why not try writing the ending now, to a story idea you’ve been mulling over in your mind (I know you have on, come on, you’re a writer!)? Let us know how it goes!

Janet Wilson, founder of Dernier Publishing and Write for a Reason
Janet Wilson, founder of Dernier Publishing and Write for a Reason

Happy writing,

 

Janet

P.S. The next Write for a Reason online course starts on 19th June. If you’d like to join us, we’d love to have you! 🙂

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