How Soon Into Your Novel Do You Make Sure You Have A Polished Ending?

I personally have a general idea of the ending before I ever start writing. If I don't know where the story is going it's too hard for me to sit down and start it.

But a "polished" ending? Not until I get there.

But keep in mind this is one of those things that is likely to vary for everyone, just as the amount of outlining varies, etc.

I try to have a clue before I finish the last chapter. Up til then, anything is possible.

Lenticular Psaloid said:

Hi, everyone! Knowing how brilliant you guys are on this forum, I just spend my nights reading your illuminating posts. You have given me such fantastic feedback and, please accept my thanks for just wanting to be helpful!

How quickly after penning the opening lines, does it become urgent to you to have a polished ending? Not necessarily written down, but, shaped and finalized in your head?

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When I actually write the ending. I don't have a clue how the novel will end until I get there, and wouldn't want to know. But even if you do know, how can you possibly polish until you've actually written what comes before it? Even very few outlines are set in that kind of concrete.

Lenticular Psaloid said:

. Is it not true, though, that the pantster, is not far removed from the outliner, in that the pantster, does at least outline a little bit in her head and holds it there until she gets the job done?

Call it what you will. A feel for the story. A general instinct for the theme. There is some form of organization present in the writer's mind based on previous experience with the way her story could possibly end.

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No, it is not true. It is not even remotely true. I have not the faintest idea what is going to happen on the next page until I actually write it. I outline not one word in my head, and I never, ever plot.

Nothing about how I write is based on previous experience because I've written exactly this way since the very first story.

When is true is that those who outline do not understand how those of us who don't outline write, and they too often try to make it seem we somehow use their methods, but in our heads, rather than writing them down.

But the answer is, no, no, and no. I write by looking back at what I've already written, never, ever by looking ahead to what I have yet to write.

Knowing the ending and having a polished ending are totally separate for me. I have to know the ending before I start writing. I can't do it any other way. But the polishing comes after. Also I write strictly linearly, from beginning to end, so the actual ending is the last thing I'll write.

(And I have changed the ending before when I got there, but usually it is close to what I first planned.)

Jamesaritchie said:

I write by looking back at what I've already written, never, ever by looking ahead to what I have yet to write.

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The ending should come out of what has happened before. So pantsers have no disadvantage here -- we all get to the end when we do, and have what has happened up till now. The trick is tying it all together.

Lenticular Psaloid said:

Sorry, I seem to be sticking my foot into my mouth a lot today.

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Welcome to my entire life

rwm4768 said:

When I start, I have the general ending in mind. That gives me something to work toward. But it isn't polished until after I finish the story.

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mrsmig said:

I always know how I want to end my stories, but the polishing doesn't happen until I've after I've finished writing them.

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These are what I do. I have an idea of things to work towards, and I need that in order to be able to get very far in to the story. But what I'd call a 'polished ending' doesn't exist until the same time the rest of the story is 'polished' - that is, after several rounds of revision.

I'm going to throw another two cents in here - I have a lot of respect for outliners. I really do. They do a lot of work to get where they want and for many writers, that planning pays off in a fine finished product. My best friend (from when I worked) does this and just got a two-book contract with an indie publisher. So hat's off to her.

I know the ending when I know the ending.

I often start with just an idea - characters doing something - and start writing from there. I usually outline later, but I don't start with one.

There really is no wrong answer, just a right for you and wrong for you answer (and that might change depending on the project).

I had a creative writing prof who said, "if you don't know where you're going, how are you going to get there?

I don't necessary adhere to that approach though.

I'm still trying to find my way as a novelist so I don't as yet have a set way of writing. It naturally goes wherever my muse takes me. Problem there is it's a hyperactive muse that takes me all over creation and back again. I have far too much jammed into one story.

I'm currently trying to tame that seductive muse with a more structured approach. That said, I kinda, sorta, but not really know what the ending will be. I have different versions so I'll choose whichever fits better. I think it's a case where the ending will choose itself. I'm rewriting the middle of the story, so it depends on which fits better.

To put it another way, the story searches for an ending that best fits into it's glass slippers.

I usually know the first and last scenes before I begin to write. I know why it ends that way, and my challenge is to find out how to get from A to B.

As for polished, that happens when everything else is polished, give or take.

I'm writing a story at the moment - currently I'm about 20,000 words into it. I have identified five possible endings so far, and have no idea which one (if any) will make the most sense when I get there.

This might be my favourite thing about writing.

There is absolutely not one right way to do it. The "right way" is whatever way results in a draft you can do something with. It can take some experimenting to figure out the best way for you.

The best way for me is to know the climax and closing before I start writing. Usually I'll have a pretty clear vision of the first few scenes; they just jump into my head as soon as I start thinking about the story. Experience has taught me that for me, it's a mistake to plunge into the writing until I've worked out the plot arc and have a very detailed outline of my "key scenes"-- including the ending. When I pants it, I either stall out after 2-3 chapters (because I have no idea where to take the story next), or I wind up with a first draft so hopelessly muddled as to be unusable.

I think I just don't have a good instinctive feel for plot the way some writers do, and since I write in a genre that needs a strong plot, I need to be more systematic about creating it.

When I conceive the idea for the story, the ending is part of that concept. The thought process goes something like, "Oh! How about a guy who... and he... and then..."

So, essentially, I know the beginning, the process, and the ending before I begin. Now, I don't have all of the fine details, of course, but I do know my MC and his dilemma and what he has to do to resolve said dilemma.

As far as having a 'polished' ending? That comes after I have completed the first draft, and, usually, the second, third and, the "OMFG how many times do I have to rewrite this to get it right?" drafts.

The polish, I always save until after I've finished wading through the muck. Sort of like a good pair of shoes. You don't polish them if you know you're just going back out into the mud, you wait until the rain is over.

My idea of an ending is:

They win! La!

You'll not that no where in there did I say who wins. While I'm an outliner, that ending is about as much as I have for an ending for the plot.

For character growth/character arc, I have a much better idea of what I where I want the character to have grown/matured to emotionally.

Wait, the ending is supposed to be polished?

Dammit, back to the draw... er... writing board.

Before I write the first word. First, I know the end. Then I know the beginning. It's getting from one end to the other that causes the hair pulling.

Mr Flibble said:

The ending should come out of what has happened before. So pantsers have no disadvantage here -- we all get to the end when we do, and have what has happened up till now. The trick is tying it all together.

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Other than simply trying to write as well as possible, tying it together is where I concentrate almost all of my effort. It's why I look back, rather than forward. The page I'm writing at the moment has to tie in perfectly with everything that's gone before. If I start looking forward at all, tying it all together gets much more complicated, and this is where rewrites and revisions happen. I'd rather avoid that.