Should I write the ending first?

maestrowork · May 2, 2008

I tend to like to write chronologically, but lately I've been thinking if it would help my creative flow if I just wrote the ending first. I already knew how it was going to end... I'm just waiting for the whole thing to come to that point. Every time I thought about the ending it just got me all excited. But something is stopping me from doing so, perhaps because I'm just the chronological type of writer...

Then again, with my last novel, I went ahead and wrote a 2000-word epilogue (which I never actually used in the final draft), and it fired me up to finish the second half of the book because now I knew where exactly I was going... could that work this this one, which is more complex than the other?

I can't decide.

TheIT · May 2, 2008

If writing an ending is what gets you fired up on the project, I'd say go for it. Just be aware that when you connect the dots and write the rest of the story, you might find you reach a different ending.

Good luck!

althrasher · May 2, 2008

I'd say no for me, just because my characters change so much by the end of the book from what I originally had in mind (and I'm a non-chronological writer). And with more a more complex story, things might take a different turn from the one you write.

Plus, looking forward to writing the end gets me really excited to get there.

Danger Jane · May 2, 2008

I say go ahead. If the ending is holding you up because you want to write it so badly, then definitely start, and even if you run out of steam, you'll still be ready to go back to the beginning. As long as you don't refuse to let the ending change after it's been written, you're fine.

ishtar'sgate · May 2, 2008

maestrowork said:
Then again, with my last novel, I went ahead and wrote a 2000-word epilogue (which I never actually used in the final draft), and it fired me up to finish the second half of the book because now I knew where exactly I was going... could that work this this one, which is more complex than the other?

I can't decide.

I think the key may be in what you said about your last novel - that writing the epilogue fired you up to finish the second half of the book. If writing your ending first can help spur you on then I'd do it.
Linnea

sunandshadow · May 2, 2008

althrasher said:
I'd say no for me, just because my characters change so much by the end of the book from what I originally had in mind (and I'm a non-chronological writer). And with more a more complex story, things might take a different turn from the one you write.

Plus, looking forward to writing the end gets me really excited to get there.

No reason you couldn't re-write the ending once you were done with the rest of the first draft.

althrasher · May 2, 2008

sunandshadow said:
No reason you couldn't re-write the ending once you were done with the rest of the first draft.

Yeah, but sometimes when there's something written that you're aiming for, you feel kind of locked into it and end up with a story flow that isn't quite natural.

Danalynn · May 2, 2008

I vote for GO FOR IT, too! Anything that inspires you to write something is good inspiration, no matter what order it comes in.
Sometimes if you work outside of your comfort zone, great things can happen.

:e2BIC:

Everything happens for a reason, even if we don't understand the reason why at the time. . . .

I find that there are times when I sit down and work on something that I had no plans on working on when I first sat down . . . but by the time I'm done, I see that there was a definite reason why I was meant to work on that part. It all comes together, just like it was meant to be.

Go for it. It can't hurt, can it? And you'll never know what could've come of it if you don't try.

:e2cheer:

paprikapink · May 2, 2008

no body make a move! eggplants, with 2 votes, is at 22.22%.

i think that means something. something about the end...

Penguin Queen · May 2, 2008

It's tricky, this.
With a short story or a novella, I would say yes, go right ahead and write your ending, and then have your story race towards it.

With a novel... I dont know. It helped you last time to put your thoughts in order & establish what would happen. But this time, it sounds as tho you already know how it will end, you're just stuck in the middle. That sounds more like being stuck in the middle bit of a novel, to me. Thats what happens, to most writers at some point. (I recall reading interviews with Helen Dunmore who has won oodles of prizes, and Laurence whatshisname, who wrote The Pope's Rhinoceros, , and them describing just having to slog thorugh the central chapters of a novel.)

I dunno. See, with me, I'd be tempted to skip the main course of boring nourishing things & make straight for dessert, the satisfying ending. Will you then want to go back to your boring greens? Not that theyre boring exactly, but mebbe even less allluring after youve had the chocolate ice cream.
Once I'd have written the ending, it would have happened, in my mind, and I'd be a lot less tempted to go back and connect the dots.
I'd say slog through, set yourself a realistic goal of X words a day/week/month, whichever way you function, and write.

But you know yourself best. If you reckon the ice cream will make you all excited about spinach again, go for it.

slcboston · May 2, 2008

I say "it depends" on many things, but ultimately the answer would be "yes" if that's how you're inclined to go on this particular project.

Just be prepared to have the ending change by the time the rest of your story catches up to it. That happens to me every. single. time.

brokenfingers · May 2, 2008

What do you have to lose? Maybe a few hours of writing time?

And what do you have to gain? Maybe a story that can last a lifetime.

NicoleMD · May 2, 2008

Amazing things can come from looking at a story from a different perspective. It's like picking a bouquet of flowers before you've planted the seeds.

Nicole

Harper K · May 2, 2008

I'm going to try doing this over the weekend and see how it goes. I figure writing a possibly misguided and premature ending can't be any worse than the purgatory of being stuck on my rewrite of Chapter 9, which is exactly where I've been for, oh, three weeks...? Yikes.

Go for it. Even if you don't wind up with workable plot points for the ending, you may at least end up with the proper mood or tone for the ending. Figuring that out can be worth just as much as determining the play-by-play of events.

Juniper1 · May 2, 2008

From my vast pool of knowledge gained through writing exactly one (1) single rough draft I would have to say it depends on how attached you get to your initial ideas. I started with far more of an ending than a beginning and thought I would explode if I had to wait to get there. The ending I wrote is now on display at my humility museum as dismal crud of the worst sort BUT it did give me some much needed enthusiasm about doing the hard work of building characters who would arrive at the final destination.

If writing an epilogue got things going last time then maybe you are a mostly chronological with the exception of the end kind of writer. Go with it.

RLB · May 2, 2008

I've already written the *tentative* ending on my current WIP, fully aware that the whole WIP changes on the rewrite anyway. But yeah, it's helped me be more excited about the middle.

SPMiller · May 2, 2008

I do this with all of my short stories. While writing, I have a target I can focus on at all times. I know exactly where I'm going to end up, and I therefore have less trouble with the actual journey. This technique also helps me to avoid superfluous prose--I don't write anything that doesn't get me closer to the ending.

I did the same with my fantasy novel and it worked equally well for me. That's not to say it'll necessarily work for you, but it's probably worth trying.

The ending of that novel did change a little bit as I wrote, but having it there still helped.

thethinker42 · May 2, 2008

I've already written the ending to my WIP even though I'm about 30K words from the end. I've written this one completely out of sequence, and I've found that it's working VERY well for me.

On my first draft, I would get so excited about getting to a certain scene that I would rush through the scenes before that part. The result was not that great. Now, I'm working on the 4th draft of the same WIP...I'm writing whatever scene strikes my fancy that night, and everything is falling into place.

Your mileage may vary, but I'm finding that it works very well.

privatepook · May 2, 2008

In my personal experience, you're alwys better off writing whicever part of the story you feel ready to write. Forcing myself to write chronologically can be a death sentence if your mind is forming out the sentences for the ending at that given moment.

If you are ready to write the ending, then to hell with everything else.... go for it!!

DWSTXS · May 2, 2008

I'm a firm believer in 'you can't know how to get somewhere, unless you know where you want to end up'

My current WIP, I tried for 5 years to get written, started and stopped it over 85 different incarnations.

Finally, when I 'figured out' the ending, I started writing and didn't stop until I finished it. Makes it SO much easier to get there, if you know what the ending is.

My novel no. 2 will be to write the beginning, the ending, and then fill in the gaps.

blacbird · May 2, 2008

For me, this really depends on the story. Sometimes I come up with an idea for an ending, but keep it in the form of a note, rather than actually fleshing it out in a draft form. Most of the time, though, I start with a concept and characters, with little or no idea what the ending is going to be; the story will dictate that, at some point.

caw

Melenka · May 2, 2008

I know how my WIP ends, but I won't write it out. It's like eating dessert before dinner. At this point, knowing is enough for me.

On the other hand, I had to write a scene in the middle, not even sure I was going to use it, or my MC could not move forward. When I figured out where it went, the next few chapters just flowed. So if writing the end is going to make you write the beginning, I say go for it.

WannabeWriter · May 2, 2008

For my WIP, I actually did write part of the ending. Some aspects of it changed once I wrote everything leading up to it, because many new ideas came along.

Straka · May 2, 2008

You can write the ending first. May help you see the finish line in a way. When the end is done tuck it away, and write the rest of the book. When you get to the end and you find out it doesn't find, then just rewrite it.

benbradley · May 2, 2008

Perhaps in a novel or other longer story the characters might change and "grow" too much to successfully write the ending early/first without it needing major editing or flat-out deletion and rewriting once the rest is written, but in last Sunday's FF Challenge I wrote the dialogue (all of it) first, then I wrote/filled in [switching to Paul Harvey voice] The Rest Of The Story. You can see what I mean here (the forum password is: flashed):
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100813
I'vr written many of those FF stories that way.

Should I write the ending first?

Write the ending first?

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