Backwards Writing

July 18, 2007, 7:51 PM

How many writers here start at the end of their stories and write to the beginning? I usually write from start to finish but there have been several occasions when I find it more beneficial to write in reverse. Often times when I do this, I have a clear cut mental image of where the piece is heading but I'm not sure of the right way to get there. So I'll start at the end and backtrack. Then once I write my way to the beginning, I rewrite it from front to back to polish it all through. But writing in reverse makes it easier for me to make coherent segways from one topic to another, instead of just guessing at a starting location and trying to work my way to the other topic. Also, if I start at the front and work towards a specific finish, I typically find a better finish for the start I've given the topic... and then get severely off-topic. lol

July 18, 2007, 8:47 PM

I find I'm a little more unorganized than that. I just start from the beginning and take it from there. Wherever it goes, it goes. Usually though, I'll at least make a rough outline of what I want to happen in the story. Kind of a flow chart of general, key events or ideas I'd like to write the story around, and then I just fill in the details from there. It's a lot like you you might be given a task at work; your supervisor might tell you here is the outcome we need, here are a few things that need to happen along the way. We don't care how you go about it, as long as these needs are met.

August 26, 2007, 4:16 PM

I tend to plot out as much in advance as possible before I start writing. I usually know the ending long before I start tapping away, as well as most of what happens along the way. I just finished rewriting my latest book recently because I had started too early, and the lack of both clear direction and voice in the first ten chapters showed.