So I literally just made my account (At last) so I'm hoping this is the right place for this. I recently just finished by first book (That I've rewritten about four to five times) and it came out well but also slightly convoluted when it came to certain plot mechanics.... I'm taking a break from that right now and focusing on a prequel book, but I do not want to run into the same issue. So my question is: How do you guys start your last chapters first? I tried this with my first book but it was hard and I ended up scrapping it, however I feel like it is a necessity for the stories I wish to write (I have many subplots that interweave, and dramatic character development, ect that all gets muted when written first). Currently I'm planning to write my first chapter, and then the last, and then work on it from there. Any advice? Sorry if this came out a bit jumbled lol.
I think the answer to a question like this is always going to be you have to do what's right for you! Everyone has different writing styles. Writing the last chapter first might work for you so you have a focal point to build up to, for other people it may be a distraction. I would just say make sure you keep it flexible - how you think you want your story to end now might change as you write it and think of new ideas along the way. I also don't think you have to write the end first to have complex subplots and development, as long as you know roughly where you want to end up. What do you mean by them being 'muted'?
Of course writing the end first isn't a set thing, I speak for myself on that end. By muted I meant like..... certain mechanics might come out lost? Or maybe not spoken about enough? To the point where they may become obscure or forgotten to the reader.
I don't necessarily right the end 1st, however I will typically jump around when I write and I will write the scenes that are most certain and most fixed in my head and they will help me to flesh out the rest of the book
The end being first in a story kind of reminds me of the Twilight Zone episodes. The ending is first then it plays out and you learn "Oh, that's why they did that!" or "That's why they were there!" I know it's a show and not a book, but it's a story nonetheless. Writing the end can be tricky. You just want to make sure you aren't giving away the results or reasoning of everything so clearly up front.
Sorry if I've misunderstood but it sounds like for you, writing the end first is a way to keep the story on track and make sure the right developments and character arcs are emphasised, and to help stop you becoming sidetracked? I think this can definitelty work to your advantage as it can help you decide what choice the characters would make or what obstacles would fit best. Picking up what @RiverSong said, if you already have the ending written you can then also choose how much to toy with the reader with dramatic irony. When I have written out of chronological order, it has been scenes that I particularly care about or scenes that sprung into my head that I later built the story around. I think you just have to be careful that the story feels organic and not as though things have been forced in to keep the original ending just because it is already there.
Sorry for the late reply! I've been thinking about this myself, and it seems drastically different from the way I write but I feel it will work out much more in my favor than the way I currently do it. Do you have any advice on the process?
