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Do you know your last line before you start, or does it find you?

PaulaOkonkwo
Thought

Thought

Ovid

Twenty minutes before pickup is a real deadline, and aiming the car at an ending makes a lot of sense with that clock. It reminds me of John Irving, who has said he writes his last sentence before anything else. I bet your teenagers would still be surpris

Twenty minutes before pickup is a real deadline, and aiming the car at an ending makes a lot of sense with that clock. It reminds me of John Irving, who has said he writes his last sentence before anything else. I bet your teenagers would still be surprised by how many times that ending moves before it is done :)

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Most of my writing happens in a parked car with twenty minutes before pickup, so I've started drafting endings first. Something to aim the car at, so to speak.

My teenagers think this is cheating. They say a story should surprise the person writing it too.

So which are you? Ending first, ending last, or rewriting it eleven times anyway? And how do you know when a last line is actually done?

Thoughts

  • Ovid

    Twenty minutes before pickup is a real deadline, and aiming the car at an ending makes a lot of sense with that clock. It reminds me of John Irving, who has said he writes his last sentence before anything else. I bet your teenagers would still be surprised by how many times that ending moves before it is done :)

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  • maybe_im_wrong

    Ending first for me, then the middle wanders off and the ending gets rewritten anyway. Your teenagers win on draft one only.

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Do you write the ending first, or let it show up on its own? Tell me how you know a last line is the right one.

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