I typed those magic words last night.
But...I'm not at the end of my manuscript. Not yet.
I did something I've never done before. I wrote the last chapter before I was there yet.
This is very unusual for me. I've mentioned before how I typically don't outline, and when I get stuck, I'm stuck until I figure it out--I can't jump around because I don't know what will happen next.
But with this WIP, I've known the last scene from the moment I started writing. Nothing clear and definite, mind, but I knew where I needed the characters to end up, emotionally, and I knew I had to get them there.
Currently, I'm just before the climax scene, and I've been hesitating. Part of it is being overwhelmed with work--I'm afraid I'll rush the scene and forget about doing something correctly. Part of it, too, is that I'm not 100% sure how to bridge the gap from where I am to that shadowy end scene I've pictured since I started writing.
So I did something unusual (for me). I wrote The End. I wrote that last chapter, and I was able to make concrete that image of the final scene. And then I wrote the chapter in front of it, because I knew what needed to happen immediately before that scene so they'd be emotionally on the same page. I worked backwards like that for four chapters.
I look at it like this: The End is the like the final destination on a voyage. I've gotten down most of the road, but just before I reach that final destination, I come to a river, and the bridge is missing. The End is on the other side of that river. I've been building the bridge on my side of the bank--getting to that climax scene, building up the tension, getting my characters ready to cross that bridge--but building a bridge is hard. So I waved my magic writer-wand, and started building the bridge from the other side, from The End side, and we'll just let my writing meet in the middle.
I love to write the end before I'm finished. I actually do it pretty early on. Then when I'm frustrated, I can go back and reread it. Sometimes it is not the very end, but just before the end or I add more onto what I thought was the end.
ReplyDeleteWell, as a former math teacher, I think working backwards is a great strategy. It's often the most effective way to go. :)
ReplyDeleteVery cool! I've never done this only because sometimes I'm not sure what the end will be!
ReplyDeleteI think it's very healthy to allow yourself to work in a way you've never worked before. There is no right way of doing it. And, if in the end you find that your bridge doesn't actually lead to the end you see now, you can always revise it!
ReplyDeleteMim & PJ: I usually don't do it this way because, like PJ, I don't have that clear idea. But since I did have it, I thought Why not? And I think it's paid off.
ReplyDeleteCorey: Why didn't I think of that? I'm horrid at math, but I always did better on it when I could work backwards.
Davin: I SO AGREE. And this WIP has totally be a new experience for me: new tone, new voice, new tense, new POV, new genre...new, new new! SO refreshing!
Congrats! It can only help to see even more clearly where you're headed, as you write the rest. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting. They say write scenes out of order, you can always edit.
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ReplyDeleteWell done on getting past your problem of being stuck. Whatever works :)
ReplyDeleteHey! You know the end! Hmph! Guess I'll just have to keep reading it. I do have my suspicions as to who the perpetrator is.
ReplyDeleteI think that could work. Writing the end before you get to it. I have heard of writing scenes kind of like an outline, before you start the book. Glad you found your way out. And the bridge? You'll build it and they will come! :)
Congrats on almost-The-End! I debated writing the last chapters first before, when I was stuck on a particularly draining scene. But I'm like you- I can't skip ahead because I don't know what happens until it happens.
ReplyDeleteI mean, of course I know what happens, I plotted out the ending when I plotted out the rest of the story, but I can't know the mood, the theme, the feeling of the last chapter until it happens. I don't think I'll ever skip ahead, not by a whole chapter, not even a scene.
Good luck finishing!
Ah. The End. I wrote that and thought it was true...then realized the editing process was still ahead of me.
ReplyDeleteKat: Good point about emotions. I think that's the difference for me--I knew I wanted to end the novel on a certain emotional note, so I could write that scene. Normally, I'm not sure of that emotion, but this time, I knew.
ReplyDeleteWith my first inspirational novel, I wrote the ending before pretty much anything else. I knew, like you said, where I wanted my characters to end up and I just couldn't help myself. I have never done that with any of my other novels, however.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right! Getting to the end is huge. I always wonder if I wrote the end first, it would give the rest of that first draft more clarity. Although, there is something to be said about the character's growth that you don't even know is going to be evident.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, yeah! for you. Very exciting. Have you bought that new computer yet?