Honestly, I thought the 'write the ending first' advice for short stories was just a gimmick until I tried it with a 500-word horror piece about a haunted pressure washer.

Ngl, forcing myself to figure out the creepy final image of the machine turning on by itself in an empty driveway made the whole middle section, about the guy buying it at a garage sale, way easier to connect and actually finish in one sitting, so has anyone else had a weird prompt trick suddenly click for them?

3 comments

3 Comments

willowc602mo ago

Ever try @michael895's dialogue trick but for a whole character's voice? I nailed a grumpy mechanic once by just writing all his rants first, then the plot built itself around his complaints.

michael8953mo ago

My buddy swears by writing his dialogue first, then building the whole scene around it.

ruby_fisher13mo ago

Totally get that. Writing the last line first saved a sci-fi story I was ready to trash.