Beginnings, Middles or Ends?

[Nittanylizard]

I have the most trouble with the middle. I often write the ending by the time I'm halfway through the story. It's just condensing everything that's in my head into that gaping hole between the beginning and the end that puts up that wall.

That said, I'm finding more and more often that after the whole thing is written, I need to go back and get rid of most or all of my first chapter. That, interestingly, seems to be not only common, but a good idea for a lot of authors.

[Keira]

I've only ever written the ending to one story so far... and that story is not finished. Only has half of one chapter to go, but I'm good and stuck, and the end is constantly changing. That's why I usually write from start to finish, because I might know what the ending is before I get there, but it's bound to be changed around and tweaked.

However, it's the ending that's hardest for me to get through. I get so attached to the story and characters that I don't want to bring it to a close. Which is also why I usually have a sequel and prequel in mind - whether or not those ever get touched is another story.

[Laughing]

The middle, for me. I love doing the beginnings. Which is why I have 17 million unfinished stories. I'll be good for a while, and then get stuck, and have to try to figure out how it's going to end, and then I finish it. If it's a novel or long story, then I'll write the beginning, some of the middle, and the ending, and then have to go back and add more development and things to the middle.

[fairlane]

I voted end. The beginning is easy, I always know exactly what's going to happen in the first few scenes. The middle kind of writes itself as the characters end up driving the story a lot and I just see where it goes.

I truly suck at endings. I end up so attached to the characters that I suddenly want to wrap everything up in a happy ending, even though it always makes me cringe afterwards. Also I go off on so many tangents during the story I find it hard to bring it around to a conclusion.

[theinsider]

It's always the beginning. I have this total paranoia about the magic 'first sentence' that's supposed to hook in your reader. More often than not I start out in the middle, then the end, and then I go back and write the beginning once I know all the details about the ending, so I can slip in all my fun little bits of foreshadowing...

[texaskid]

for me it's always been the middle, i know the beginning and i know how i want it to end sometimes i just have a hard time getting from where i am to where i want to be at the end

[missmouse]

Middle, for sure.

Beginnings are easy, I have the bad habit of writing the intro to a fic, posting it online, then just deleting it becaus I can't continue.
Endings are pretty easy for me, I just make them sappy and everyone just goes "Awww". Then again, I've never written an ending to a serious fic other than a oneshot, because I can't get past the middle.

I have the fic all planned out, and I know what I want to write- writing it is the hard part because I'm always stopping and rewriting and changing my mind... It's a terror. So nothing gets posted, a fic falls to page 50 or so, everyone forgets about it, I finally update, and no one remembers it.

[Tensleep]

For me, it can all be a challenge or a breeze - it varies with the story. But in general, just before the end is hardest for me. You know what you want to happen, but you have to get there and you have no idea if you want to or not because that's the end of the story. So I find that the hardest is middle-end.

Easiest is by far the end for me. You have everything established, every event has pretty much happened. You just have to bring things to a close.

[cooroo]

I love writing beginnings. It always gives me such a thrill to suddenly have opened a whole new world. It also happens when I start a new fanfiction, especially one with an original character. There's just so much to explore - you already know the character inside out, but you want everybody else to as well. The beginning sentence sometimes catches me and I stare at my notebook or computer screen for a while before inspiration hits me, but I still love them. I especially love opening with one line of description, a thought, or a line of dialogue. Actions just don't cut it for me.

Middles are pretty tough for me. I'm trying to capture my characters thoughts and how they're changing and what's happening in their lives without making it boring or dragging it on and on and on and on... I also tend to find middles written in first person harder to write, because I have to wonder if my character's thought this or that before and, if so, does it seem repetitive? From third person, though, it seems easier because there also seems to be more action and less thinking.

Endings are sometimes the easiest part and sometimes the most impossible, often depending on the length of the story. If it's a one-shot, I'll have my ending up and ready. If it's a slightly longer story, five chapters or so, it's easy enough to know what the ending's going to be, but saying goodbye to the story is horrible (I'm sentimental - I get attached easily ). As for longer stories... well, here's the impossible bit. I guess I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to my stories - after roughly eleven chapters of trying to get to this point, no ending seems worthy of my story. It just seems lame and rushed, as if I've tried to wrap it up too quickly. Of course, I've never actually finished a ten-plus chapter story, so I don't know how it would turn out, but when I'm planning out my stories... jeez, it gets hard.

And this ramble is very long ;D

[greasergirlheart14]

Middle... though I have yet to END a story........