Storm Eagle

I know Rowling does this, but I have to ask, does anyone else make the end then make the events that lead up to it? It drives me crazy not knowing where a story is going.

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Work in Progress...The Quill...I'll be sure to post it once finished rereading it for the seventh time and revising.

astralis

Almost all writers have an idea about the end before they get there. Take a look at todays' most powerful storytelling medium: film. Screenwriters who see their work on the screen almost always know the end before they begin.

I think many writers begin writing to see where it's going and then quickly have an understanding about the ending.

The most powerful stories, those that have meaning, are almost always structured by the author and everything that is written is filtered through a controlling idea that is developed by knowing the ending. Of course, writing secondary drafts is good for doing this too. In my humble opinion, a story that is plotted in advance, and has a compelling controlling idea with everything written filtered by it, is almost always a more powerful story than one that's written on the fly. But a mature storyteller who understands the storytelling form, which is essential, can still create great stories on the fly.

A painter doesn't begin a picture not knowing what he or she is going to paint nor does a musician create a symphony not knowing what it will sound like.

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How to write a story

Non Serviam

Heh. I start my story knowing where I'm going with it... but by the time I get to the end, I often find the destination changed.

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Thoughtcrime does not entail death. Thoughtcrime IS death.
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Patrick Beverley

Nearly everybody writes with an ending in view; I'd say not doing so was rather a bad idea.

Foxee

Darn it, Patrick, my writing is a really bad idea, then.

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spikeraber

Its hard for me to write without knowing what the whole story is about.

valeca

This is not true. Some do, some don't. It all depends on the person and how they approach writing.

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"...make your own nature, not the advice of others, your guide in life." --Pythia, Oracle of Apollo at Delphi

I'm here.

astralis

He said nearly everyone, not everyone. I also believe that most published writers/screenwriters have an idea about their ending before they're finished.
You're right, it does depend on the person's approach to writing. I believe those who are published and write while not knowing the ending have mastered the form of storytelling and subconsciously write while understanding it.

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How to write a story

ClancyBoy

As long as you aren't sloppy and cut corners to get to that ending.

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"Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons wait for you down there. Little pets they are, little little little pets. Cute little things, they say. Don't you believe it. No man ever saw them and walked away alive. You won't either. That's the final dash, flash. That's the utter clobber, cobber." --Cordwainer Smith, Norstrillia.

wmd

I do not write the ending first, but I know how the story will end before I begin... now this ending can evolve into something different by the time I get there, but I need to know where I am going before I start moving.

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Rob

Staggering stuff.

Cheers,
Rob

Destroyer

All authors have some idea of what will happen at tyhe end of the book, otherwise they're generally at a loss for stuff leading up to it.

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"It's always fun until someone gets hurt, and then it's just hilarious"
Ricochet - Faith No More

"Walk softly, and carry a big gun."
Force Commnander - Dawn of War

MiloDaePesdan

"Start at the beginning, go to the end, and do murder, sex, and guns in the middle."



Milo

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Patrick Beverley

Do you really write without knowing how you're going to end it? Because if that works, then screw my theory, and good for you--but I honestly don't know how you can do that. It would frustrate me to hell not knowing what was going to happen in the rest of my story while I was writing it.

Lemex

I can only think of Stephen King that does not plan an ending before starting it... to be honist, I do this too, but I shouldn't be counted in on this.