WRITING AND FINISHING A NOVEL #1

​I've decided to start a reoccurring blog post series to address the moving parts involved in writing and, more importantly, finishing a novel. I started out like most people with a boatload of dreams and good intentions and no concrete idea how to make them a reality. Over the years, I've read many books on writing, listened to interviews, read blogs, watched YouTube posts, and muddled my way through my own manuscripts. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm thrilled to share what I've gleaned thus far.


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​So when you begin to write a novel, here's recommendation Number One!

WRITE YOUR LAST CHAPTER FIRST

I can hear protests spreading far and wide. When I first started writing, I would have vehemently argued against such advice. There are successful authors that would tell you not to listen to me. They would say this is the equivalent of reading the last chapter of a book. How could you possibly be interested in writing (or reading) a story for which you already know the ending? The discovery is lost.

That may be true, but hear me out. In all fairness we don't read a book for the ending, we read it for the journey. So if we write the ending, yes the discovery may be lost there, but there are a thousand points in between that are left wide open for development and change. I'm not a stickler, either. If you write the ending then go back and write your novel, I'm perfectly okay with you discarding that ending and replacing it. "What's the point?" You ask. "Why even bother writing an ending?" I'm so glad you asked.

There's no such thing as a one-ended clothesline! However, if you have a beginning and an end, you instantly have a middle on which to hang ideas. To put it another way, you now have an apple at which to aim your story arrow. You have direction and movement. It may not sound like such a big idea, but it is, because you have a framework for asking questions and fitting in those elements of character and plot.  

One final caveat for those who balk at the idea of knowing the ending. Here's my suggestion. Write three (or more) endings, each very different. Maybe write one where the protagonist succeeds, one where they fail, and a third that leaves the story open-ended. This allows you emotional breathing room, where even you don't know the outcome.

Give it a try and see if it doesn't give you the forward momentum and focus to complete that first draft!

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