Writing Excuses 4.28: Brainstorming The End and Working Backwards

When Oscar Hammerstein wrote "Let's start at the very beginning // A very good place to start" he was talking about teaching children to sing, not writing a novel. Sometimes the beginning is the very worst place to start, so in this 'cast the Writing Excuses crew starts at the end. Dan leads with a reminder that we should all watch his five-part lecture on story structure, and then hits a couple of the high points in his process. Brandon points out that he and Dan both start in the same way, even though Dan usually discovery-writes his way to the selected ending, and Brandon typically outlines towards it in advance of putting chapters down. Unsurprisingly, Howard starts in the same place. So what are the problems with working backwards? How do we prevent those things from happening? What are some great things about working backwards? How can we ensure that those happen every time? That's the first half of the 'cast. The second half is a right treat, as you get to listen to Brandon, Dan, and Howard attempt to brainstorm a great ending from which they can work backwards to a beginning. Producer Jordo provides a pair of headlines as prompts, including programmable matter, Harley Davidson motorcycles, and a thrown puppy. Audiobook Pick-of-the-Week: Furies of Calderon: Codex Alera Book 1, by Jim Butcher -- a book that Brandon tells us was written when somebody dared Jim Butcher to build epic fantasy around Pokémon. Writing Prompt: What's the character arc for our mathematical analyst biker dude? Yes, you'll have to listen to the 'cast in order to figure this prompt out. Sound Effect of the Week: George Jetson's Harley Weekly Feature You Won't See Every Week: Sound Effect of the Week. This episode of Writing Excuses has been brought to you by Audible. Visit http://AudiblePodcast.com/excuse for a free trial membership*. *Note: From the Audible website, here are the terms of the free membership. Read the fine print, please! Audible® Free Trial Details Get your first 14 days of the AudibleListener® Gold membership plan free, which includes one audiobook credit. After your 14 day trial, your membership will renew each month for just $14.95 per month so you can continue to receive one audiobook credit per month plus members-only discounts on all audio purchases. A very small number of titles are more than one credit. Cancel your membership before your free trial period is up and you will not be charged. Thereafter, cancel anytime, effective the next billing cycle. Any unused audiobook credits will be lost at cancellation.