The End of It All

Some writing advice came up in my Facebook feed the other day, and it said to “write the ending first.” It was linked to an article that listed 7 reasons why you should do this. I’m not going to go into all the details, if you want to read the entire article you can do it HERE, but I will agree that it makes some good points – but only if you’re a plotter and not a pantser.

Oh, c’mon. You know the difference between a plotter and a pantser right? A plotter starts out with an outline, plotting every step of their story. A pantser writes by the seat of their pants, taking the story as it comes.

When I wrote my first serial, which had the working title of Space Opera (later to become An Elemental Wind), I was a total pantser. I had no idea what I was doing, but I’d been challenged to write a serial on my blog and I was not going to back down from a challenge. It was kind of nerve-wracking – each week I was expected to provide a new instalment and I wouldn’t know what was going to happen until it did.

The story deviated a great deal from the original idea. And then it turned into a series. When I started writing it I wasn’t thinking beyond just getting the book done, but once I was at the end it seemed only logical to continue on. After all, there were three other elements to write about.

Being a pantser has its drawbacks though. Sometimes you start working on an idea and because you don’t know how it’s going to end, sometimes the story just peters out. I don’t know, maybe there’s something to this whole plotting thing after all.

At the very least, maybe I might consider working on the endings a little sooner.


Prompts of the Week

Prompt One
While shopping downtown one day, you find an antiques store that has a rare, old doll. You buy it for your daughter. A few days later she tells you her new toy can talk. You don’t believe her, until one afternoon you find yourself alone in the house and it starts . . .

Prompt Two
You’re playing a video game called Wizards & Warriors when, suddenly, lightning strikes the house, searing you and causing you to black out. When you wake up, you’re trapped inside the game. The only items you have is a sword, a backpack and a note attached to your shirt that reads, “Beat me and I’ll send you home.”

Remember, don’t spend a lot of time on these, they’re just meant for fun. Take 5 minutes to think about it, then write for 10 or 15 minutes. And if it turns out you like what you’ve written, then by all means turn your exercise into an actual story. You can find these prompts, and others like them, at Writer's Digest .