Young Writers Society

OK, so essentially my problem is that I'm more interested in how my stories end than how they....i don't know how to articulate this...i'm more interested in how my stories end than how they 'middle'?

I love writing, and I'd like to think that I'm not naturally lazy and weak, but I find I'll have an idea, start writing, then suddenly realise the perfect way for the story to end...but then I have to trawl through writing the rest of the story to set the ending up.

Does anyone else find they feel like this? Or have any advice on how to help with this?

Thanks,
Baboon.

Dude, I always feel like this. It's why I rarely ever finish a novel. I don't have any particular good advice on how to beat this; when in doubt though, it's always worked for me to get away from writing in general. Don't write anything, take a break. A week or more doing something you enjoy doing that's stimulating mentally as well as physically. That can help often.

I think all writers feel like this from some time to another. But, sadly, you have to write the middle to write the end. One thing that helps me is outlining. When you outline, you have a better idea of how middle parts contribute to the end, and it makes things flow better and thus, in many cases, capture your attention more. Also, writing sprees. Taking a break can be good, but there comes a moment when you just have to sit down and WRITE. What helps me is setting a deadline for when I am going to finish and then writing fast and with determination until then, forcing myself to write even when I don't feel like it in order to meet the deadline. Exercises like that foster discipline. The first time I did it I had to force out so many chapters. Now, I barely have to force anything out.

Hope that helps!

This quote is some of the best advice I've seen for actually finishing a novel:

Backside on chair. Hands on keyboard. Stay there (with appropriate gaps for sleeping, eating, going to school, etc) until you reach the end of the novel.

Found here

The only way to actually keep moving forward is to write, outline, edit, tweak, type, think about the novel, write, type, think about what happens next, type, talk it out to somebody to get them interested so you have to write it, type, think, write, type, write, write writewritewritewrite.

Hope this helps!

~Rosey

Thanks a lot guys I've got about six ideas on the go at the moment, so hopefully you'll see some of them up here if I can take your advice and force myself to write

Baboon

So write the end first. That's what I did once. Then once you've written the end, go back and write the middle. Once you've finished writing that, don't forget to read it and make sure everything makes sense.

Butt in chair certainly works. It's one of the best pieces of advice ever.

Outlining is also pretty good. You want to know everything that happens in between so trace your character's path from point A to B. If you're feeling too lazy to outline you might want to just lie back with an iPod and listen to songs that remind you of your work-in-progress (which I will proceed to call WIP from this point on). Actually, having a playlist for each WIP will be good. Listen to it on repeat while thinking of scenes that would fit in your novel. Trust me, you'll come up with a lot.

Finally, it helps to have a thread where people can go on writing sprees and encourage each other. Having readers cheer you on is pretty good. This would probably work better as a group but so far I've found none of this kind on this website so I suppose you should gather some people instead. A writing buddy or group can help spur you to finish especially if you're the competitive type. Compare word counts everyday.

If you have any questions, PM me.

Sincerely,

Kara