Writing the Ending

I know this blog is a bit self-centered. I'm working on it but it seems to want to remain that way. It can't be a writing advice blog or a publishing advice blog. One would need some form of expertise in those areas. All I have is opinion, generally based on what I read in those types of writing blogs. All that remains is what I write and what I discover, sometimes just by playing with an idea.

"I don't plot," she said for what seemed like the hundredth time. "But it doesn't mean I don't know where I'm going, even if it takes me a couple of chapters to discover specifics."

So today I am going to play a little game. I'm going to write a couple of final scenes I already know. No character names included. It may be spoiler-ish but who knows? These are not final. They're rough drafts. Things could change.

Refrigerator Art or Who needs a Whiteboard?

Yes, I've been having problems with my primary project the last couple of weeks.  As I wrote a few posts ago I accidently deleted a major part of a chapter. So I've spent the time since doing a reconstruction. Major pain! I thought I would never get it back together. OK, that was straight Eeyore thinking. I knew what was going in the chapter, where the last chapter ended, and where the next chapter started. It was difficult but I got it done.

Now I found myself facing the next two and final chapters. Things were going to start to get really hairy. Action-- more reveals---more action--- oh, excrement! (yes, I use the normal Anglo-Saxon word where needed but not here)---a little more action then resolution and aftermath. I discovered three different POV were needed to get everything down and on a very limited timeline. How??? The whole process started to get hairer by the paragraph. How I started wishing for a big whiteboard to write plot points/POV on!

I got up to get a cup of coffee and walked by my white refrigerator, a big monster more suited to a family with kids than a single woman. No refrigerator art of any kind. I looked at the blankness and wondered----would a whiteboard marker stain it? I got out a dry erase marker and a wet erase marker then drew with both. No problem. Both came off easily enough but the wet didn't smear when touched. Eureka!

 

 

 

It's not a good photograph but there are three columns with viewpoints A, B, and C then plot points listed beneath with their side of the story. I've blacked them out in the graphic because I didn't want them seen. (Sorry my dears!) . I can draw lines interconnecting them, scratch in specifics where needed, and literally see three POV's at once. I will also pass it frequently on my way to the coffee pot. This is good.

 

Now I will write one character at a time then combine. With steady effort (and some already written parts) I should finish within a week. WATCH THIS SPACE!