A Post With Two Topics

[deird_lj]

Please comment on the topic you prefer to discuss...


For Writers

Do you guys often write stories where you already know how it's going to end before you start?
Not just generally knowing the plot - I'm talking the specific line that's going to be the last line in the fic.

I've just been thinking about my own writing, and I realised that, in fact, I often know the exact last line before I write the story. Mostly this means I'll end up figuring out what on earth the plot is just because I've got this last line sitting there, and I want to know how to get to it.

Does this happen to anyone else? Or just me?

(Bonus points if you can guess which of my stories started that way.)

______________________________________

For Unaccomplished People

I just found out that the guy who sits across from me at work - who is two years younger than me - is about to buy a house.

I am feeling very disheartened and unaccomplished.

Please, regale me with your stories of how you didn't learn how to tie your shoes until you were ten, or never ever learned how to cook - so that I can laugh at you share your pain.

Comments

[brutti-ma-buoni.livejournal.com]

I try not to know the last line - if I do, I rush towards it too fast. I'm trying ningloreth's recommendation to write mysteries without plotting up until halfway - then look at the mess you have and decide what were clues all along. Work in progress, so I can't report success levels.


I can't drive. Not that unusual for a Londoner, but I did try to learn for many painful years. Also, on DIY, my limit is changing lightbulbs... As long as they're not too high up.

(There's this whole balance/depth perception issue I have which causes both of these problems, but it's not bad enough to merit treatment and just basically makes me look like an incompetent of epic fail.)

[deird1]

Yeah, I have a thing with lightbulb changing. It's so high up, and there's nothing to hold onto up there!


write mysteries without plotting up until halfway - then look at the mess you have and decide what were clues all along.

Oooh... what a fascinating idea...

[brutti-ma-buoni.livejournal.com]

It made sense when she talked about it at WriterConUK: text of talk is here http://community.livejournal.com/writerconuk/88508.html. Definitely worth reading anyway, it was a fascinating talk (not least for how the traditionalist's rules for detective fiction now sound totally antiquated).

[deird1]

Heh. Agatha Christie seems to break half of them on a regular basis.

[next_to_normal]

I'm trying ningloreth's recommendation to write mysteries without plotting up until halfway - then look at the mess you have and decide what were clues all along.

Oh my God, I can't help but think I would screw that up royally. But it's an intriguing theory...

[brutti-ma-buoni.livejournal.com]

Honestly? I thought I would too. But it was part of a really good talk about how to write mysteries at WriterconUK (http://community.livejournal.com/writerconuk/88508.html), so I thought I'd give it a try. So far, not bad at all, and it does resolve my mad-dash-for-the-finish plotting problem.