Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Over the Cliff I Go

Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment on last week's IWSG: Path or Cliff? post, where I dithered about which writing project to work on next. As you can see from the title of this post, I went over the cliff and went with the "Ugly Horror Manuscript" now known as UHM….

I greatly appreciated all your thoughts, advice and encouragement, and I feel better, more ready, to aid my protagonists in their fight for survival and to grapple with my nasty protagonist and her cohorts. 

I do have two questions/issues/problems to pose to all of you wise ones out there:

1) Is it weird that I don't have an ending in mind? I usually do, and it's kind of freaking me out that I don't this time. I have scenes that happen toward the end but that's it. Do you usually know your ending before you write? Or do you discover it as you go? 

2) I recently downloaded Scrivener, and I'm looking forward to playing around with it and maybe using it for UHM. Do any of you use Scrivener? Any suggestions for how to make the most of it? Would it be better to use it for a fresh, new ms instead of one that's already got a few versions written plus lots of notes and scrawls that would have to be entered into Scrivener? 
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22 comments:

  1. Julie FlandersWednesday, January 15, 2014 9:27:00 AM

    Good luck with the UHM! It sounds exciting and I hope you soundly defeat that nasty woman and her cohorts!
    I tried using Scrivener because I'd heard great things but somehow it ended up making me even more disorganized. I couldn't really make heads or tails out of how to use it LOL. Yes, I am a sad case. :D

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    1. Madeline Mora-SummonteWednesday, January 15, 2014 9:36:00 AM

      Thanks, Julie! I hope I can, too.

      I'm still playing around with Scrivener, but I can definitely see how it could become overwhelming. Maybe if I remind myself that I don't have to use all the features and just find which ones work best for me, that would help. :)

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  2. Alex J. CavanaughWednesday, January 15, 2014 9:47:00 AM

    Sorry, I've never tried Scrivener. And my ideas always come with the ending first. My challenge is finding a way to get there.

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    1. Madeline Mora-SummonteWednesday, January 15, 2014 10:05:00 AM

      I usually have an ending in mind, even if it's just like the sense of the ending, how it feels etc. This time? Nothing.

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  3. Optimistic ExistentialistWednesday, January 15, 2014 11:13:00 AM

    I don't think it's weird at all that you don't have an ending in mind. It will come to you serendipitously :)

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  4. L. Diane WolfeWednesday, January 15, 2014 11:28:00 AM

    Often my short stories don't have an exact ending planned. It usually comes to me about halfway through writing. Hope your ending hits you soon.

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    1. Madeline Mora-SummonteWednesday, January 15, 2014 11:46:00 AM

      Thanks! It wouldn't bother me so much except for the fact that this is not my usual process with novel writing, and I don't know if that means something good or…not.

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  5. Crystal CollierWednesday, January 15, 2014 11:39:00 AM

    Endings... Yes, I usually know my ending. If I don't I'll usually stop and just let it sit while working on other projects. These things usually just come for me. The ONE book I forced an ending out of just ended up being a mess I had to rewrite a billion times. No fun for sure.

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    1. Madeline Mora-SummonteWednesday, January 15, 2014 11:48:00 AM

      I definitely don't want to force the ending. I can see how that would/could end up being a big mess.

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  6. DanaThursday, January 16, 2014 1:26:00 PM

    When I first begin to write, I often don't know the endings to my stories. Most of the time they come to me though—thankfully!

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  7. Susan Gourley/KelleyThursday, January 16, 2014 11:16:00 PM

    I always know the end of a novel when I start it but I make lots of changes in how I get to that end.

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  8. SuziThursday, January 16, 2014 11:40:00 PM

    I've written stories not knowing exactly what the ending is. Usually I know a little, but not always. So it's perfectly normal to me.

    Can't help you with Scrivener. :)

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    1. Madeline Mora-SummonteFriday, January 17, 2014 7:17:00 AM

      I usually know a little about the end, too, but not this time. So weird for me.

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  9. Elizabeth SeckmanFriday, January 17, 2014 10:32:00 PM

    I've never used Scrivener, so no help there!
    And I usually have an ending in mind, but have totally switched gears while writing. (And by saying I know the ending, I mean I know the guy will get the girl...the specifics come later and that's okay ;)

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  10. AnonymousSunday, January 19, 2014 11:01:00 AM

    When I already know the ending, it isn't as much fun, but it's less stressful. When I don't know the ending, it's exhilarating, but I'm never sure when I'm done. And that can be frustrating. Helpful? Thought not.

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    1. Madeline Mora-SummonteSunday, January 19, 2014 11:07:00 AM

      I think I'll try to frame it as exhilarating instead of stressful. :)

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  11. Lynda R Young as Elle CardyMonday, January 20, 2014 4:10:00 AM

    I don't use Scrivener. I'm a Word girl through and through.
    And I don't always know my endings when I start. I'll admit it makes it harder down the track, but not impossible.

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    1. Madeline Mora-SummonteMonday, January 20, 2014 7:32:00 AM

      I think not knowing the ending is harder because you don't exactly know where you're headed or how to get there. But I guess it can also be kind of fun, like going on a road trip with no destination in mind and seeing where you end up. :)

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