Do you know your ending?

Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by badgerjelly, Aug 19, 2013.

  1. feathersinflight

    feathersinflight Member

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    I have about 5 plot lines that occur in different worlds all converging into an overarching plot line, so it really helps that I at least know the ending of that overarching plot line. Everything else changes as I incorporate new ideas into the stories, though.
     
  2. Bryan Romer

    Bryan Romer Contributor Contributor

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    Since I write adventure, thriller, and/or mystery based novels, it is impossible to proceed without having worked out the plot and the ending before hand.
     
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  3. Emily Logan

    Emily Logan New Member

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    I have a hard time coming up with the ending of a story. I can make a hell of a beginning, but my middle and ending get a bit fuzzy. I write all the notes I can get about my story and start writing- noting any changes as I go.
     
  4. FallenShandeh

    FallenShandeh New Member

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    The story I just finished, I knew how it would end before I even started.

    The story I just started... I have no idea how it's going to end. I have a few vague ideas of how the plot will develop but a lot depends on character interactions and I cannot plan those beforehand. I don't know why.
     
  5. Emily Logan

    Emily Logan New Member

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    Fallen, I would say it's easier to let the characters tell their story rather then you hogging all the book any way- if you know what I'm saying. ;)
     
  6. Annalise_Azevedo

    Annalise_Azevedo Member

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    They all die - oh wait... that's George R.R Martin :D

    But to answer, I know how some of them are going to finish. Like the current one I'm on - even though I've just started on it, I've been planning the ending for a few years now. If I finish this story, it will be the first time in years since I finish the second one.

    In my opinion, it's the ending of the story that keeps me going. I plan the ending first so that I get so excited in the story that I want to reach that part no matter what. So all I have to do is create the events that lead up to the ending and add more stories along the way.
     
  7. thearchitect

    thearchitect Member

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    While writing short stories, I will have a general skeleton written out, but I will often adjust it as I go, or completely overhaul it. This has resulted in some pretty interesting stories :)
     
  8. thearchitect

    thearchitect Member

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    While writing short stories, I will have a general skeleton written out, but I will often adjust it as I go, or completely overhaul it. This has resulted in some pretty interesting stories :)
     
  9. daemon

    daemon Contributor Contributor

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    The entire plot of my work in progress is basically just a vehicle to lead to the ending that I have had in mind since long before I got it in my head to write the book.
     
  10. thearchitect

    thearchitect Member

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    While writing short stories, I will have a general skeleton written out, but I will often adjust it as I go, or completely overhaul it. This has resulted in some pretty interesting stories :)
     
  11. thearchitect

    thearchitect Member

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    While writing short stories, I will have a general skeleton written out, but I will often adjust it as I go, or completely overhaul it. This has resulted in some pretty interesting stories :)
     
  12. Pandemonia

    Pandemonia Member

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    I'm just setting my characters in motion and seeing where they take it.
     
  13. ToDandy

    ToDandy Senior Member

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    I've always liked the terms "growers" and "architects".

    Growers: plant the initial seeds of the concept and just kind of see where it goes from there.
    Architects: Meticulously plan out the entire story before they lay a single block.

    Most people exist somewhere in the middle. I'm closer to an architect because my screenwriting background makes me a heavy planner and I like to know where the story- and even most scenes- are going. However not everything is planned out and I still give myself some wiggle room for discovery.


    So in short: yes, I always know my ending before I start writing.
     
  14. Catrin Lewis

    Catrin Lewis Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Community Volunteer

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    With my work in revision, of course I know where it's going, I just need to make it logical that it should get there.

    The work in progress, yeah, I know exactly where that's going, too. My MC has her doom decreed, and the final scene is written in my head.

    Actually, I'm not sure if I could get past writing the first couple of chapters if I had no idea of where my novel was supposed to end up. Of course genre has a great deal to do with it, too. A romantic comedy or a thriller will have a different denouement than a tragedy would.
     
  15. Inkwell1

    Inkwell1 Active Member

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    No, I never know the ending before I begin. That sucks the mystery out of it for me. I have a rough outline, and as I write more I develop the ending more thoroughly.
     
  16. Jack Asher

    Jack Asher Banned Contributor

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    Chuck Palahniuk quite famously was half way through Fight Club when he realized, "Wait, Jack and Tyler are the same person!" And Shyamalan was in his tenth draft of The Sixth Sense before he had the idea that Dr. Crowe was dead.
     
  17. SuperVenom

    SuperVenom Senior Member

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    Yeah but they are really more twists than a resolution. I still think you need an end point at least loosly in your head or on paper to aim for to stop you going off unwanted tangents.
     
  18. shadowwalker

    shadowwalker Contributor Contributor

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    I don't. I don't go off on unwanted tangents because I pay attention to what I've already written, and look at the variety of directions the story could go next. Whichever one seems most appealing and workable, I go with. I gave up trying to figure out the ending long ago, when I realized my stories never even came close to the original one.
     
  19. SuperVenom

    SuperVenom Senior Member

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    I can see your view however, when outlining the story you know in your head your character has to have a conclusion to his story. i don't mean an essay or in depth notes on how and when. But you have to know that he will either defeat, catch, die or what ever is needed to finish the story. Taking care of you what you have already written is good practice, but with out the ember of conclusion how will you know what drives your character forward? There is a giant destroying his village therefore he has to (conclusion?) kill or capture ....There is a serial killer killing off all blonde men (conclusion?) arrest or punish. The girl he loved since he was four has arrived back in his town(conclusion?)seduce, get closure or marriage. The ending drives the story as you need to head some where. Otherwise you are in danger of loosing focus. Starting a story open ended can have your hero wandering round looking for something, and if you dont figure it out till the end it could mean rewites that could have been avoided.

    I find knowing the embro of an ending allows you to place clues, items and back-story earlier in the story to entice the reader. This works well in thiller and dective novels as you have to know the murderer...etc to allow the placing and pacing of clues and events to account for the conclution.

    So basically I say know the destination but enjoy the journey and the off shoots it yields, but remember where you are going.
     
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  20. shadowwalker

    shadowwalker Contributor Contributor

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    I know the story has to have a conclusion - I have no idea what that conclusion will be. Maybe the MC will win, maybe not. Maybe the beginning MC will get killed and a new character take over. I don't know. I'll find out when I get to that point.

    I go on road trips all the time where I have no idea what the destination is. I enjoy the journey anyway.

    If you have to know the ending to start, well and good. But please don't do as so many others do - assume that what you can't do means it can't be done.
     
  21. cynthia_1968

    cynthia_1968 Active Member

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    When I write I never know where it ends. I just follow my instinct and when writing I can almost see the scene in front of me.
     
  22. mom42terrificgirls

    mom42terrificgirls Member

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    I have always known my ending and have worked my way towards it.
     
  23. Komposten

    Komposten Insanitary pile of rotten fruit Contributor

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    For the story I'm currently writing, I had no idea at all of how it would end. I honestly didn't even know what would happen half-way through the story. The story got a life of its own and instead of me leading the story onwards, the story lead the way and I just tagged along.
     
  24. Franz Hansen

    Franz Hansen Member

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    I know exactly how my current WIP will end. I know the setting of my final scene, some of the characters who will be there (none of my main characters, they all die).
     
  25. Komposten

    Komposten Insanitary pile of rotten fruit Contributor

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    Well, that sounds a bit... brutal. :eek:
     

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