Do you know how your novel will end when you start writing it?
We asked you on twitter!
Do you know how your novel will end when you start writing it?
— Women Writers (@WomenWriters) August 1, 2014
@WomenWriters yes always! Rough plot first including ending then flesh out from there.
— Sally King (@SallyKingUK) August 1, 2014
@WomenWriters: that kind of assumes I have an inkling of the plot. And the characters. So, no.
— Nancy E. Shaffer (@masqthephlsphr) August 1, 2014
@WomenWriters Definitely not. That’s the best thing about writing. Where will you end up?
— Sarah Ward (@sarahrward1) August 1, 2014
@WomenWriters depends on the story 🙂 normally I get while scenes in my head. If I’ve happens to be the end, great! If not, I’ll get there.
— Ashley Wade (@crankyashley) August 1, 2014
@WomenWriters By midway thru my recently completed novel, the characters were taking ME along for the ride w/them. So, no. Had no idea.
— Amy Mackin (@MackinWriting) August 1, 2014
@WomenWriters I find that I need to have a vague idea about where I need to be at the end so I can build my story to that climax.
— Nafiza Azad (@Nafizaa) August 1, 2014
@WomenWriters General sense, but always changes/develops/morphs the further into draft I am.
— Andrea MacPherson (@macpherson_a) August 1, 2014
@WomenWriters Yes. I plot high level, then detailed chapter plot, then start writing. Things change but I need a destination.
— S. L. Saboviec (@Saboviec) August 1, 2014
@WomenWriters – I usually know where I’m going, but good chance is I don’t quite know how I’m getting there. #writers
— L.J. Simone (@lark2328) August 1, 2014
@WomenWriters I think I know, but the characters usually have other plans.
— Avery Cunningham (@AA_Cunningham) August 1, 2014
Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing
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Oddly enough, yes, I do. I don’t always know the details, but I tend to know where my characters are going to be development-wise and I know if it’ll be a happy ending or a bittersweet ending just by my own gut feeling.
Actually, no and that fact still startles me a bit. That cliche about the characters taking over? That’s pretty much what happens in my case, almost every time.
Absolutely not a clue. It’ll end where it ends, and it’ll surprise me. Heck, I’m not even sure what the next scene will be…
I usually have one or two scenes clear in my head when I start, but the beginning and the ending change many times!
Yes, I have the last scene crystal clear. That’s certainly the case in the book I’m writing now, The Milliner’s Secret. The final scene is the pole star towards which I steer the ship. Without it, I would be going round and round in large circles forever. The end of the book is pretty much all I work out to start with, books being formed from loose-knit treatments which change as I write.