StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Do any of the resident writers actually have an ending for their stories when they start?

Personally I do not. I set up a scenario and run with it. I try to develop characters which are believable and a situation that is potentially possible.
But I never write the ending first. I mean, I have an idea of what might happen. But when I'm really into the story and have my characters really focused in my mind, I find that they surprise even me and suddenly the ending I imaged is changed and better than it would have been if I had outlined the thing.

-Jack "wannabe writer" Lain.

90% of the time I have an ending, usually because I like to set up certain "payoff" situatrions where some character you've invested time in emotion into gets whats coming to him, or I just like to tie up all the loose ends neatly. Besides, climatic battles, usually how I like to end all my stories with, take planning.

AND it helps in devloping themes in my stories. The themes I like to focus on are: What makes a hero or the nature of a hero. Overcoming adversity in spit of overwhelming odds. Sacrifice. The human heart, howe it works and how people interact. And finally strength in unity and diversity, over the chaos of selfishness. You can't truly develop these themes if you don;t know how it will end.

Of course, thats just my style and every writer has their own...the true secret...do what works for you.

I understand what you are saying. Good ideas.

I like to write the story first. Let the characters and situations determine the ending. Even if I hate a character I've created.

But on my second or third rewrite, thats when I look at theme, create forshadowing elements and flesh out those situations or characters (or just delete them totally :) ) Its also on the second or third rewrites where I add paraphrased or total quotes from other works or mimic something visual that I've seen in real life.

-Jack.

See, a fine example...I don't do rewrites, once I finish a chapter, all I do is check grammar and spelling, NOTHING pisses me off more than a story full of typos because it commuicates to me a certain sloppiness on the writer's. Otherwise I set aside and move on. I find rerwites tedious and usually my brain is working at 100mph and I just want to get to my next point.

Take my fanfic for instance, I just chug along, once a section is written I usually don't go back to it at all.

Good points.
I know this isn't a chat board, so I really shouldn't reply so quickly but;

Why don't you just write the whole thing and then post?
Don't post chapters or elements. Just write it all?

-Jack "curious" Lain.

An ending... well, I have sort of direction for my fanfic, a possible ending, but nothing clear.

I like to have a story arch in the back of my head most of the time but not much more. Other than that I just go with what comes out. It seems more natural to me.

In my experience:

1) Have an ending prepared
2) Don't be afraid to change it if you come up with something better

The reasons for this:
1) It provides direction, and with direction comes structure
2) By knowing where you are going you unite the story through it through the use of foreshadowing, themes, and tie-ins. (for example, in Shadows of the Night the throw-away line "Promise you won't give up on me" fairly early in the piece came back at the end to tie the events together and point the direction for what would come)
3) Protects you from Deus ex Machina endings.
4) It gives you something to work on when you have trouble writing what you've got in front of you at the moment. Your ending will get polished up as you re-write it, and even by just by reading it your creative juices can get flowing again as you think "you know, if I went in this direction, this part would be a lot more powerful" or something like that. Just because a story is read from start to finish doesn't mean it has to be written from start to finish.

I always have an ending.

It's getting there that's the problem.

Depends. If it's a story I intend to post for others to read I normally do have an ending, unless it's a never-ending kill-o-thon. If its not then It's less likely I'll have an ending and much of what I write never gets past a few pages.

I keep a loose outline and a generalized ending, which slowly gets more detailed as I work towards it.

I've worked on fics both with an ending in mind and without an ending in mind.

Jack Lain wrote:Good points.
I know this isn't a chat board, so I really shouldn't reply so quickly but;

Why don't you just write the whole thing and then post?
Don't post chapters or elements. Just write it all?

-Jack "curious" Lain.

It's too much to post a story all at once. Readers tend to lose interest and want to get back to their posting. It's better to drop in a chapter, let people dissect it and yell for more (Star-Crossed) and then drop in another. It keeps their attention.

IG-88E wrote:It's too much to post a story all at once. Readers tend to lose interest and want to get back to their posting. It's better to drop in a chapter, let people dissect it and yell for more (Star-Crossed) and then drop in another. It keeps their attention.

I can agree with that; you've got to cater to the short attention span.

Jack Lain wrote:Do any of the resident writers actually have an ending for their stories when they start?

Personally I do not. I set up a scenario and run with it. I try to develop characters which are believable and a situation that is potentially possible.
But I never write the ending first. I mean, I have an idea of what might happen. But when I'm really into the story and have my characters really focused in my mind, I find that they surprise even me and suddenly the ending I imaged is changed and better than it would have been if I had outlined the thing.

-Jack "wannabe writer" Lain.

Nope. I start in the middle, write a chapter or two, go to the beginning, fill it in, then end it.

I tend to have an ending before I start a story. Its just writting everything inbetween thats painful (I have 3 more parts of 4-6 chapters each before I reach the end of the fanfic I'm working on, thinking of shaving one of the parts off)

Usually the stories I've done have a begining and and ending. I usually work it the way I draw. An idea hits me I look at it and see what it does or what it's going to do. So there I have a concept then I put a start and an end. If it's starting here, then its going here kind of thing. Then I loosely fill in the middles. Then I just keep fleshing them out. Exactly how I do my artwork. In fact the post I have in this forum is the ending of the next to the last story. So heh, shit flies don't try to catch it.

Usually I know the ending and the characters. I just have to get them to the end, and since I already know how it's going to turn out, I know what I need to develop in the characters and the plot.