This is such great advice, and I would do it if I could.
in this case, I do know where the book needs to end and I have written some notes to that effect. I think I know who the villain is, and their motivation, and I’m hoping it’s absurd enough that nobody will have figured it out along the way. And I know that the ending will be the reveal, and then how that impacts my character and what happens to her at the very end. What I don’t know is how this person gets caught, and in a mystery that’s always the most important part where you’re sitting at the edge of your seat, because the protagonist is in mortal danger as basically, they race to reveal the villain before the villain catches up to them. And I literally have no idea how to do that yet. But I’ll get there.
As for my other stories, just like this one, I have the ending in mind, but when I get there, the initial idea no longer works because the story has had too many twists and turns along the way. I mean, I always know that “protagonist defeat antagonist” but how that happens is never predictable.
This is why, no matter how hard I work to plan the novel in advance, I always have to pants the ending, and that can be so difficult for me.
Nov 8, 2022·edited Nov 8, 2022Liked by Jackie Dana
Yeah, my stories change as I write them. But so far, not enough to wreck my endings. I haven't started the third book in my series yet because I don't have an ending. And I don't want to write it without knowing I can end it well. 🤣 Or if I want to have a fourth book.
I don't think I could write a mystery. The amount of planning and sneakiness (throwing people off track) is beyond me. 🤣
It is very challenging but also kind of fun. Right now I'm having all the characters try to drag my protag into the mystery that initially she doesn't even think is a big deal. But I get to keep dropping the hammer and raising the stakes, so that's pretty fun. My final draft might be a total mess, though!
Keep working, it sounds very promising. Circuses are scary places, to me, and from what you’ve described, a situation and setting that may or may not provide favorable conditions for magic, if not magick, to be deployed. Go!
That sounds like an intriguing mystery, and I love the pictures! I’ve always that once I know what’s going to happen, the writing flies out of me! It’s the figuring out what’s going to happen part that takes all the time, LOL. Good luck!
thanks! It's pretty fun right now. But that's always what I say during the initial drafting, and then I look at the mess I made and wonder why I thought it was such a good idea.
For novels, novellas, and long short stories, I write the ending first. Then I just have to get there.
This is such great advice, and I would do it if I could.
in this case, I do know where the book needs to end and I have written some notes to that effect. I think I know who the villain is, and their motivation, and I’m hoping it’s absurd enough that nobody will have figured it out along the way. And I know that the ending will be the reveal, and then how that impacts my character and what happens to her at the very end. What I don’t know is how this person gets caught, and in a mystery that’s always the most important part where you’re sitting at the edge of your seat, because the protagonist is in mortal danger as basically, they race to reveal the villain before the villain catches up to them. And I literally have no idea how to do that yet. But I’ll get there.
As for my other stories, just like this one, I have the ending in mind, but when I get there, the initial idea no longer works because the story has had too many twists and turns along the way. I mean, I always know that “protagonist defeat antagonist” but how that happens is never predictable.
This is why, no matter how hard I work to plan the novel in advance, I always have to pants the ending, and that can be so difficult for me.
Yeah, my stories change as I write them. But so far, not enough to wreck my endings. I haven't started the third book in my series yet because I don't have an ending. And I don't want to write it without knowing I can end it well. 🤣 Or if I want to have a fourth book.
I don't think I could write a mystery. The amount of planning and sneakiness (throwing people off track) is beyond me. 🤣
It is very challenging but also kind of fun. Right now I'm having all the characters try to drag my protag into the mystery that initially she doesn't even think is a big deal. But I get to keep dropping the hammer and raising the stakes, so that's pretty fun. My final draft might be a total mess, though!
I admire anyone who writes a NaNoWriMo novel.
Keep working, it sounds very promising. Circuses are scary places, to me, and from what you’ve described, a situation and setting that may or may not provide favorable conditions for magic, if not magick, to be deployed. Go!
Good luck with this year’s NaNo!
That sounds like an intriguing mystery, and I love the pictures! I’ve always that once I know what’s going to happen, the writing flies out of me! It’s the figuring out what’s going to happen part that takes all the time, LOL. Good luck!
Very interesting premise. Good luck!
thanks! It's pretty fun right now. But that's always what I say during the initial drafting, and then I look at the mess I made and wonder why I thought it was such a good idea.