Story Final

[Endenes]

When you write a story, do you know the ending from the very beginning, or does the ending take shape in your mind as the story progresses?

 

[Rosica]

When you write a story, do you know the ending from the very beginning, or does the ending take shape in your mind as the story progresses?

When you were born, do you know the ending from the very beginning, or does the ending take shape in your mind as your life progresses?

The way people write stories mirrors the way they think about life itself.

 

[SouthernMaiden]

When you were born, do you know the ending from the very beginning, or does the ending take shape in your mind as your life progresses?

The way people write stories mirrors the way they think about life itself.

Unless you're stephen king during the 90s. Writing whole books in a week while high on cocaine. Then you don't even remember the details when they go onto be best sellers

 

[TheKillingAlice]

When you write a story, do you know the ending from the very beginning, or does the ending take shape in your mind as the story progresses?

You shouldn't know how to start a story, if you don't know how to end it.
Although it may reshape or change entirely over the course of the story, you need to have a goal; a safe haven. If you don't have anything you are going towards, you will put your story at risk of losing its way, wearing out and overstaying its welcome. You will just end up meandering around, unsure of where to go, after having gone all this way without knowing where or when it would even end. Which also means you may be able to incorporate earlier setup into your finale, but ultimately, your destination will only really be hinted at when you are close to it already. And readers can tell.
Everything will just feel like an ass pull at the eleventh hour, unless you are really good.
Nobody tells you to plan - just know where you want to go, so you can subtly communicate it throughout the story.

 

[Endenes]

When you were born, do you know the ending from the very beginning, or does the ending take shape in your mind as your life progresses?

The way people write stories mirrors the way they think about life itself.

Maybe this should be one of the differences between fiction and real life.

 

[Makimaam]

Yes I know the beginning and the end. Writing the journey in between is the fun part.

 

[AliceMoonvale]

It depends, but usually I have a general idea of how I want it to end. It goes through different drafts over time~

 

[Fisher0001]

When I start a webnovel, I know how it will end, and I already have the beginning plotted out. However, it's subject to change. My web novel From Criminal to Hero is poof of this. Multiple rewrites and a lot of feedback had changed it from the original plan.

 

[DarkCosmos]

When you write a story, do you know the ending from the very beginning, or does the ending take shape in your mind as the story progresses?

For me, writing is more like a wild journey. I never really know what turn it’s going to take, so I just go with the flow and see where it leads.

 

[Endenes]

For me, writing is more like a wild journey. I never really know what turn it’s going to take, so I just go with the flow and see where it leads.

I guess this is a path I will never be able to take.

 

[Lmae]

I have an idea for the ending. I see it in my mind. It is just a matter of how to get there.
For Altered One, there was one part of the ending that changed, but it is minor compared to everything else.
Tulla's ending is pretty straightforward and probably won't change at all.

 

[Corty]

Yes. Without knowing what end I want for the story, I don't even start it, because it's what keeps the story going for me, to reach it.

 

[laccoff_mawning]

I think the end is probably the very first thing I actually planned out in my current story. Not that it's fully planned out, but I have the major events thought out.

I would want the beginning, end, and a "generic middle" of a story to be planned out before I start to write. Though if I were to plan a 2000 chapter epic, maybe there's some flexibility for not planning an ending there? Hmm. Even then I'd think I'd want an ending planned.

 

[MC-Stories]

When you write a story, do you know the ending from the very beginning, or does the ending take shape in your mind as the story progresses?

for me, sometimes it's the latter, most of the time, i have a vague idea of what the ending is

 

[CrimsonGenius]

I have a vague idea or two. Depends if I want to kill something.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

In broad strokes the ending is usually in my mind (there have been a few exceptions), but it almost always takes a few turns in different directions and needs a lot of revision before I get there.

 

[blushiemagic]

It's a very case-by-case basis thing. When I used to write short stories, they were 50/50 on whether I planned the ending from the start or made it up when I got there.

For the series I'm currently writing, the ending for the first book was probably the very second thing I planned, and the whole book is pretty much an exercise in getting from the start to the finish. Then as I assembled a giant outline in my head, I planned the endings for each subsequent book pretty quickly. The final ending is the exception; it's pretty much the very last thing I added to the outline. I like to write horror, but for something this long I don't have the heart to make an unhappy ending

 

[Eldoria]

When you write a story, do you know the ending from the very beginning, or does the ending take shape in your mind as the story progresses?

I've been foreshadowing the ending since the synopsis and prologue. So, well, every beginning has an ending.

 

[HarryGarland]

Yes I do know the ending from the beginning when I start writing. But my first experience actually finishing my story is that I deviated a wee-bit from my intended ending.

 

[JessicaDrew]

With my current story, I wrote the first two chapters with a rough outline in place. Through the process of writing those chapters I pivoted away from my original premise. I then went and drafted a new chapter by chapter outline (41 chapters). I’m super excited about the final chapter and the final image of the book, but it’s going to be a while before I get there!