So I have to write a short story for school and I did a great draft but it doesn't fit with the way I was told to write it. It has a plot but not tons of action and trials. I don't understand where I went wrong. I started out really great but the ending was dull... Tips anyone?
“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” ― Mark Twain
“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” ― Ray Bradbury
While some might disagree with me I will say this. Coming up with a beginning and then trying to piece together everything after that is an exercise in futility. The writer must know how it will end before he/she sets into writing otherwise the story ends up aimlessly wandering as the writer is trying to figure out where to go with it.
I don't entirely agree that you *have* to know the ending when you start, I usually don't.
When the beginning works and the ending is dull, sometimes it's because you've started high and deducted from there. It happens to me when I write short stories in a single sitting.
What I would recommend is to split it in two.
The first part starts high and sinks lower, like a curve. This is when you start off with lots of mystery and excitement, you grab your reader and then pull them deeper into the wonders and intricacies of your story.
Then you stop. Now you have to work in a different mindset, backwards to the one you just had. The second part is the other half of the curve that leads up to the climax. Once the plot is set that's when you start increasing tension and action, working up to the big explosion at the end.
These don't have to be halves, though. An action novel would probably have only ten percent in part one and the other ninety building up to a big end fight scene. A mystery novel would have ninety percent in part one, the build up, and then a massive revelation at the end. It depends on what effect you're going for.
When you're stuck think of the first part as a prequel and then put all of your effort into bringing the sunken middle into a big bang at the end.
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