This weekend I did something I've never done before - I wrote the last scene in a book long before the end of the book was in sight.
It wasn't intentional. I didn't sit down and say wow, let's write the last scene in the book because, heck, I don't really even know what this book is about - yet. But I am continuing on my bit by bit method of writing these three stories at once by just trying to write a single scene every night before bed. Of late they have all been in the plant book and that's okay. The character is very real to me and, I almost hesitate to say this, but I may have found his voice which goes a long way to bringing a book to life.
Friday night I knew I wanted to write a scene about the MC and a particular plant. So I did. And then I reread it, as is my habit before turning out the light and I realized that it was the very last scene in the book and suddenly I knew where I was headed. I have no idea how I'm going to get there but that's okay, I have a goal for this kid.
Saturday night's scene was prompting by watching my husband spend most of his Saturday pulling weeds in the yard. So I set the MC to pulling weeds. And in the process of writing the scene I had that wonderful experience where, before you can even get the words down, you can see the whole scene unfold in front of you. I gave him a simple task to do which set something else in motion which created a conflict that I needed but didn't know how to orchastrate.
Sunday night's scene was an apology that was not accepted.
I have no title for this book. I don't even know if I have the main character's name for sure and I'm not sure I know what his problem is or what he wants.
But I have scenes. And for now, that's enough.
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There are so many stories only you can tell.Tell them, please.
Who am I?I was born on the Cancer/Leo cusp and share a birthday with Ernest Hemingway and Robin Williams. The similarities don't stop there as I can go from depressed to ecstatic without ever passing go. I feel scared most of the time though my friends call me brave and I find it easier to believe in my friends than to believe in my own abilities to make what I want out of my life.
Who am I? A wife, a mother, a daughter, and even, gulp, a grandmother.
Who am I? A writer who never gets tired of playing with words, even when the words are hard to find. A writer of books for children and articles for grown-ups and many things in-between.
Who am I? A motivational speaker, writing instructor, workshop leader and full-time follower of dreams.
Who am I? Read and find out.
Susan Taylor Brown
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"Successful writers are not the ones who write the best sentences. They are the ones who keep writing. They are the ones who discover what is most important and strangest and most pleasurable in themselves, and keep believing in the value of their work, despite the difficulties."
--Bonnie Friedman
"As writers, we must be willing to feel our sadness, our anger, our terror, so we can reach in and find our sweet vulnerability that is just sitting there waiting for us to come back home."
--Nancy Slonim Aronie
"Writers write about what obsesses them. You draw those cards. I lost my mother when I was 14. My daughter died at the age of 6. I lost my faith as a Catholic. When I'm writing, the darkness is always there. I go where the pain is."
--Anne Rice
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carriep63
Comments
Hope I can figure out how to link all those scenes together when it comes time. LOL
And now I have a sub-plot too!
BTW, I just watched your amazing book trailer and all I can say is WOW! I hope it helps books fly off the shelf for you. By the time it got to the polar bear, I was shaking.
In John Truby's book, The Anatomy of Story, he says to start the pattern of character change from the END, where the self-revelation happens. Then, when you know where that is, go back & see where your MC has to change FROM. The big historical event in my WIP has to come near the end, so I'm trying to look at the story this way. It's tricky, definitely tricky.
I think it would be hard (for me) to begin a book with the end in mind and then figure out where the MC has to change until after I wrote the book. Then I can see applying Truby's advice to the next draft. So often I don't know what the defining, black moment is going to be (though I suspect it in one of my three projects) until I have a crappy first draft.
Yea for you! I love the thought of just writing scenes here and there. I'm thinking I might try this over the summer months while the campground is busy. Whenever one of those in-my-head-movies starts to play, I'll try to get it down on paper. If nothing else, I'll still feeling like I'm writing . . .
I think the scenes in bits and pieces would be great for you when the campground is busy! You would be able to stay connected to your story. Index cards would be good too. You can always keep a couple in your back pocket and whip one out when you have a few minutes.
And yes, they are beginning more real to me in the process which is good. I won't worry until I start to set an extra place at the table for them. :-)