I have started a new book

Hi guys, I was planning a book of which I already knew the ending, earlier on today, and to clearly explain the ending / storyline to my friend I, on the spot created an ending, as an example. Now, I don't want to give exact details of the storyline etc. so I will post the ending right now and you will mostly likely me confused but it is a strange plot-line.

"So I just lay there. My heart felt like it was coming out of my chest. I looked down. Holy crap! It was - my chest was ripped apart. How had I not seen this coming? And so, as I lay there dying, I ran, and I ran until I got to Damien's house. He's showing me this new thing that he's been working on and I get in. My life is ruined - again. For the 400th time. Why do I keep making this mistake? My eternity of false hope and last minute realisations is to continue forever. When will it stop? Never. This is it. This is what I've made for myself. And for the past five minutes, my whole life just keeps on repeating and repeating. And then I arrived at the year 1995, the year my mother died. Will I save her? Will I hell. Well, you already know that. See you in minus five minutes."

Now, as I said that probably doesn't make a helluva lot of sense to you, but do you think I should stick with the ending - which I love by the way - and write until this point, or do you think I should scrap it and write the ending when I arrive at this point.

I just wasn't sure as well, nobody writes a book backwards

Thanks for any help

Hey, why didn't you use my name? Also I have spoke to you a lot about it and I am looking forward to you starting the book.

Alastair James Burnett

__________________________

Author of current project' Toot toot',
and an as of yet 'untitled' thriller.
Co-writing with Lewis John Cameron on a book called, 'Five Time Over'.

I was only attempting to put the general idea across Alastair

Lewis Cameron

I think it's good to know the ending of your story. But, things may change as the story gets written, and you may think of an even better ending or a variation of what you have. You'll know when you get there what to do.

Okay, thanks Helen. I'm going to keep the ending and try to forget about it until that point comes around. It is good to know what I want to happen now though.

I can only answer philosophically, as I have yet to successfully test my answer (I am still aspiring as an author), but I think the answer is both.

There are successful writers who know the last sentence of their 65,000k or 120,000k word story before they pen the first word, and there are successful writers who let the story take them to the ending (as there are unsuccessful writers in both aforementioned categories as well). I have completed one manuscript that is currently under review with an agent, and I am already plotting my second story (which I am far more excited about), but in both stories, I knew the final sentence and built the story around the conclusion.

Personally speaking, the author's knowledge of the ending doesn't create a falsely scripted reality that inevitably leads the reader to a pre-disposed resolution early in the story... but, if the writer is good, this knowledge will instead provide the author the flexibility to lead the reader AWAY from the conclusion with missteps and reasonable detours (the writer shouldn't falsely manipulate the story only for the purpose of misleading, but as in life, "stuff happens").

I felt that since I knew how my story ends, I was better suited and better able to write an exciting story that forced readers to intentionally focus on all the "wrong" things while unintentionally receiving all the right clues...

Another example I could use to help illustrate my point is the television series 'Lost;' despite how the story developed, the writers and creators claimed they knew exactly how the final scene would play out. Although I suspect more scenes, stories, and stories were added after the fact based on ratings and reviews despite the storyline, they ultimately stuck to the script and held to their ending.

Hope that helped. Like I said, I've yet to be lumped in the sum of successful writers who would vouch for my advice (hopefully someday I will), but please take that for what it's worth... MP