 Fantasy: December 27, 2023 Issue [#12337] |
This week: The End and the Beginning Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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Fantasy Newsletter by Dawn
For the end of the year, with the beginning of the next around the corner, it's a good time to consider how a story might begin or end. Some are easier to write than others.
If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story. - Orson Welles |
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A story has to start and it has to end. Each one is important for its own reason and also has the potential to make things difficult in the writing process. Since we are at the end of the year with a new one on the horizon, we might as well take a look at both the beginning and the end of a fantasy (speculative fiction) story. Not only both are important but either one of them can be written first, depending on your writing process.
The End
While this part goes last, it's something we can consider first on occasion. As much as we want to spend forever in our worlds and stories, even the ones that go on for 15+ novels have to end at some point or another. That or they may end up abandoned as we only have a finite amount of time for anything.
One option to consider is writing the end first. This is probably easier for writers who can do a draft without writing the story in chronological order. If you jump from one section to another, writing whichever part comes to mind next, it may be easier to start where things end then move on to a different spot in the story. However, if you are used to writing from start to finish (as I tend to do), then you might find it difficult. Still, it can be a good practice and worth trying. Could be good first draft material, if you know where the story ends. Another option would be in the rewrite. If you know how the story goes, for the most part, you could try rewriting the ending first. Probably depends on how many major changes are going into the draft but still remains an option to consider. I know it's something I should try, starting where the story ends.
There are also times where the end is sort of the beginning. It's like those episodes on a show where at the start of the episode, they show the crazy ending. Then time gets rolled back so we can see what happened to get everyone to that point. Such as: there is a goat in the bathroom. Oh, this is a good story, so it all started when... There are some stories where we get to see something that happens near the end, then get the story in sections or from the beginning. Though it probably isn't the exact end because the calm down from everything also might not make an attention catching beginning. hmmm. Guess it depends on how you write things, as usual.
For me, the end is one of the hardest parts to write (sometimes the beginning too but I've done way more of those than I have done endings). And it's even weird when it's done fast, like during NaNoWriMo, where within a month we go from the very start of something to the end as fast as possible. And it's a very important part to write. In fact, I still need to write the end on my last NaNo novel. Maybe before the year ends. The good part about a year ending, though, is that we can keep going with the start of the new one.
In the Beginning
Where to start can a difficult point. Have to start writing in order to make progress but within the scope of the world, the character and their lives, where does the story begin? In the first draft, you can pick a point to just use as the start because more can be added or things removed later. However, once you get into the editing and rewriting stages, then some decisions will need to be made.
I don't remember who I heard give this information, whether it was at conference or maybe something said on a podcast, but someone once said that it is common for the prologue or first chapter(s) to get deleted before publication. So far, that hasn't been my experience in my own rewrites but I'm not published yet and I rarely write prologues ever. Will have to see in the future once something is ready if those first chapters need to go. The logic behind the removal was that it it common for a writer to start a story too early or to add too much backstory that could instead be woven into different scenes. Now, for a first draft that won't matter much. If you need to write 5 chapters or 15,000 words of backstory to figure out where things are headed, then go for it. Nothing wrong there. Just may have some decisions to make on keeping and moving information around or getting rid of that stuff when doing rewrites.
First draft can be freeing because you can start anywhere. On the flip side, you can start any where and that's a touch decision to make. Since you don't have anything else to go from, unless starting with the end first, you will have to do something in order to get words on the page. The blank page can be intimidating. In painting, it helps to paint over a canvas in a solid color (doesn't matter which one) to avoid the blank, white canvas. Not sure you can do that with writing but throwing some words down so that there it is not empty can help. Either way, you have to start somewhere. So get some words written.
In the end... I mean, back to the part about the year and all of that stuff. A year comes to an end, which is followed by the start of a new year. There is a beginning and an ending, much like life. Stories have that feature too and that is something to consider. How does your story begin? Where does it end? What will you write next? |
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Which is more difficult for you to write: a beginning or the end?
Last month, I had a newsletter on names. Here are a couple of comments sent in regard to that topic:
Comment by Santeven Quokklaus 
In fantasy - S&S or high - I choose names that mean something relevent to the story. I used to use Latin and Greek bases (I studied classical languages), but through my interest in etymology, have increased my knowledge of ancient Egyptian, Celtic (general) and Norse language basics. Add to that my low level of knowledge of French, Italian and German, and the fact I am exposed to various Indigenous Australian languages all the time, gives me a wide basis on which to base a name.
Comment by Osirantinsel 
Names of my characters can take a long time. I've got several stories with just X and Y standing in for characters until they reveal themselves! Sometimes I'll use a different letter and often that letter does become the starting point of the name - but often I have to speak several names outloud with that letter to fall upon the right one. I've only ever had one character pretty much state his name (first and surname) straight out. Anyway, I've got various name books and I look online too and I used some name generators for inspiration. I like to find out the meaning behind names (my Fire Red Leaf's characters all have names that relate to the story). (One of my favourite memes on Pinterest is one that says 'I have to name a new character and I'm going to make it harder than it has to be.'
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