Which is harder?

[Libby Drew]

Big conference call debate today:
 
Which is more difficult to write? The first chapter or the last chapter?

I heard a lot of feedback on the call, and it made me want to hear more! 

Does anybody feel like chiming in? Which do you find harder to craft, and why?
 

[Ron]

This is an interesting question. I’m thinking about all of the many books of fiction that I’ve read (not having written a multiple chapter story, yet) that endings are a make or break situation. Just as with relationships, the beginning is very often not the difficult part of the story, it’s the ending that causes the most tension and stress. But, even when writing a short story if you don’t stick the landing… the ending, in my opinion, is the most fraught part of writing.

Unless you work backward and already have the ending before you’ve written the rest of your work.

[kbois]

For me, it's definitely the last chapter. 

By the time I get around to putting words down on the proverbial paper, the beginning of any story has usually been banging around my brain forever so it's easy to write.

I write by the seat of my pants. I've tried the outline thing and I end up way off track because my characters always dictate something else. 

So by the time the end of the story comes around, I'm never really sure if they're done yarking at me. 

My last two stories were especially hard because they were part of a series and there ended up being so many details to keep track of. Both had endings that ending up changing as I got closer to posting those chapters. (Total revamp of the last 4-5 chapters of Shadow Effect.) 

Plus, I dread the close of a story. It's like breaking up with someone close. Lol. 

Great question!

[Mikiesboy]

The first chapter is like opening a gift and finding all these cool and interesting people.  So, I have to agree; it's definitely the last chapter that's the hardest.

I rarely know how the story will end until I'm close.  So far, I've been lucky to have an eureka moment when I needed one.

A good ending, for me, is crucial; it can make or break your story and the reader's experience.

 

[Wayne Gray]

Hmm. I think ... it varies for me.

I'm sorry - I'm not trying to be difficult. But, for some stories, getting started is rough. You know what sort of tale you want to tell, and you have an idea of how it ends already, but you agonize over getting going. Because, you know the end. How will you get there? This was the case for me for Fleeting Eternity. Getting started was way harder because I knew how it ended. How do I make getting to the ending make sense when the path there is so traumatic? How do I start in the best way to arrive at this point?

Mostly, it's probably the end. But there are exceptions.

Good question. Nice post.

Edited February 16 by Wayne Gray

[Krista]

From a writing standpoint there is a lot of pressure placed on the beginning chapter. It is the chapter that is supposed to draw readers in. There isn't an end without a beginning, and a beginning can derail the ending if it isn't constructed well enough to carry the story.

With that said, I feel a ton more pressure ending a story than I do beginning one. Making it feel like a natural place to stop is not a strength that I have, and likely never will.

The meat of the story is always the fun place to be, when things are new... and you finally know where you're going. 

[lawfulneutralmage]

  Having just finished my first real story with editor and beta reader, definitely the last chapter.  All clear in my mind, but apparently it was not

[LJCC]

Every writer has their own unique struggle when it comes to writing, and for me, it's always the beginning that gives me a hard time. I mean, seriously, where the heck should the story actually begin? It's ironic that I already have the middle and the ending in my head, and getting from Point B to C is a breeze, while actually arriving and starting to write Point A can leave me stranded for weeks, looking at my laptop for days or weeks. I remember writing some crap about socks, because I was literally firing blanks on the page.

There's so much to consider, and if you're anything like me, you have no clue what's going to unfold next. How do you kick things off? How do you grab the reader's attention right from the start while also introducing your characters and setting the stage for the story?

When I was working on my first novel here, this was my biggest hurdle. I had everything else figured out, but I kept going back to the beginning, constantly tweaking it. The opening line had to be an absolute knockout that instantly hooked the reader.

And I guess for the majority of the writers, well, it's pretty clear that the middle is the hardest. I mean, there's a whole phrase dedicated to it called 'Sagging Middle Syndrome' for a reason.

[Libby Drew]

22 hours ago, Ron said:

But, even when writing a short story if you don’t stick the landing… the ending, in my opinion, is the most fraught part of writing.

Unless you work backward and already have the ending before you’ve written the rest of your work.

I feel the same. I was surprised to hear that most others (on the phone call) considered the beginning the most difficult. The end... tying everything together, that can be stressful. I've actually written the last chapter of some stories first, just to give myself a landing pad, although that chapter then often changes, sometimes dramatically. 

[Libby Drew]

21 hours ago, kbois said:

For me, it's definitely the last chapter. 

By the time I get around to putting words down on the proverbial paper, the beginning of any story has usually been banging around my brain forever so it's easy to write.

I write by the seat of my pants. I've tried the outline thing and I end up way off track because my characters always dictate something else. 

 

Yes, me too! As far as envisioning the beginning of a story, that is. I never have much trouble deciding where to start. Nailing just the right amount of denouement, however, and tying up loose ends... that is what i have the most trouble with. 

[Libby Drew]

21 hours ago, Mikiesboy said:

The first chapter is like opening a gift and finding all these cool and interesting people.  So, I have to agree; it's definitely the last chapter that's the hardest.

I rarely know how the story will end until I'm close.  So far, I've been lucky to have an eureka moment when I needed one.

A good ending, for me, is crucial; it can make or break your story and the reader's experience.

 

The first chapter has to do some heavy lifting, no doubt about it. As far as starting a story and not knowing how it will end, I have to admit that makes me jealous. I don't need to know every detail going in, but if I don't have a very good idea of where I'm going, I find it difficult, or impossible, to start. Just a quirk of mine. 

[Libby Drew]

21 hours ago, Wayne Gray said:

Hmm. I think ... it varies for me.

I'm sorry - I'm not trying to be difficult. But, for some stories, getting started is rough. You know what sort of tale you want to tell, and you have an idea of how it ends already, but you agonize over getting going. Because, you know the end. How will you get there? This was the case for me for Fleeting Eternity. Getting started was way harder because I knew how it ended. How do I make getting to the ending make sense when the path there is so traumatic? How do I start in the best way to arrive at this point?

Mostly, it's probably the end. But there are exceptions.

Good question. Nice post.

Thanks. Yes, sure, it varies for me too. I have an idea of how a story will end, and that's how I choose a beginning. I do my best to start as close to the end as possible. As formulas go, it hasn't let me down yet. 

[Libby Drew]

21 hours ago, Krista said:

From a writing standpoint there is a lot of pressure placed on the beginning chapter. It is the chapter that is supposed to draw readers in. There isn't an end without a beginning, and a beginning can derail the ending if it isn't constructed well enough to carry the story.

With that said, I feel a ton more pressure ending a story than I do beginning one. Making it feel like a natural place to stop is not a strength that I have, and likely never will.

The meat of the story is always the fun place to be, when things are new... and you finally know where you're going. 

100% agreed on all of this. That piece that exists after the climax... yikes. Finding that perfect pace, length, and tone for the coda can be a bitch. 

[Libby Drew]

18 hours ago, lawfulneutralmage said:

  Having just finished my first real story with editor and beta reader, definitely the last chapter.  All clear in my mind, but apparently it was not

Ha! Sounds familiar. 

[Libby Drew]

1 hour ago, LJCC said:

There's so much to consider, and if you're anything like me, you have no clue what's going to unfold next. How do you kick things off? How do you grab the reader's attention right from the start while also introducing your characters and setting the stage for the story?

When I was working on my first novel here, this was my biggest hurdle. I had everything else figured out, but I kept going back to the beginning, constantly tweaking it. The opening line had to be an absolute knockout that instantly hooked the reader.

And I guess for the majority of the writers, well, it's pretty clear that the middle is the hardest. I mean, there's a whole phrase dedicated to it called 'Sagging Middle Syndrome' for a reason.

That's the struggle. Grabbing and keeping the readers' interest. And that first paragraph... I tend to rewrite it about a thousand times. 😄

I kind of enjoy the middle. That's the literal roller coaster, right? If you believe in the formula of rising tension and a series of intensifying climaxes. 

[Krista]

2 hours ago, LJCC said:

Every writer has their own unique struggle when it comes to writing, and for me, it's always the beginning that gives me a hard time. I mean, seriously, where the heck should the story actually begin? It's ironic that I already have the middle and the ending in my head, and getting from Point B to C is a breeze, while actually arriving and starting to write Point A can leave me stranded for weeks, looking at my laptop for days or weeks. I remember writing some crap about socks, because I was literally firing blanks on the page.

There's so much to consider, and if you're anything like me, you have no clue what's going to unfold next. How do you kick things off? How do you grab the reader's attention right from the start while also introducing your characters and setting the stage for the story?

When I was working on my first novel here, this was my biggest hurdle. I had everything else figured out, but I kept going back to the beginning, constantly tweaking it. The opening line had to be an absolute knockout that instantly hooked the reader.

And I guess for the majority of the writers, well, it's pretty clear that the middle is the hardest. I mean, there's a whole phrase dedicated to it called 'Sagging Middle Syndrome' for a reason.

 

I just start with action and dialog... and hope it comes across not so... scatter brained in the process. lol. That is what scares me about starting stories that requires even a pinch of world building to make sense within those opening scenes. And Sagging Middle Syndrome is a total yikes for a name.. but I like knowing what I'm suffering with when I'm at my wits end.

[lawfulneutralmage]

   After all these comments about the first chapter's importance, maybe I should go and revisit it.... 

[ReaderPaul]

I have two personal friends who have published print books.  One is writing a third.

My male friend has trouble, most often, with the fourth and fifth chapters.  The story has to keep going, but needs to keep heading toward the ending, which he already has planned.  This is often not as easy as it seemed when he started.

My female writing friend has published four books.  She has expressed frustration with usually about chapters 7 through 10.  She also has her ending planned, but again, keeping a good "flow" of the story going is a challenge.

While I hope to write and publish some day, I have trouble keeping the flow going in such a way as not to confuse the reader.  Some time in the future, I will master that.

Lots of good comments and observations here.  I especially liked what @LJCC had to say, but @Krista and @Libby Drew each made many pertinent points to ponder, as well.

[Valkyrie]

I tend to find the first chapter more difficult than the last chapter.  Finding that starting point can be a bit overwhelming because it sets the stage for the rest of the story.  Choosing the POV is very important, so sometimes it takes me a while to get started because I'm deciding if I'm going to write in first or third person.  Once that's determined, then it makes it easier to start writing.  

[LJCC]

21 hours ago, Krista said:

 

I just start with action and dialog... and hope it comes across not so... scatter brained in the process. lol. That is what scares me about starting stories that requires even a pinch of world building to make sense within those opening scenes. And Sagging Middle Syndrome is a total yikes for a name.. but I like knowing what I'm suffering with when I'm at my wits end.

Sagging Middle Syndrome could be a name of a band. 🤣 Like writers who never finish their work, while the band plays halfway and never finishes their song. I'd pay to see that.

[LJCC]

13 hours ago, ReaderPaul said:

My male friend has trouble, most often, with the fourth and fifth chapters.  The story has to keep going, but needs to keep heading toward the ending, which he already has planned.  This is often not as easy as it seemed when he started.

My female writing friend has published four books.  She has expressed frustration with usually about chapters 7 through 10.  She also has her ending planned, but again, keeping a good "flow" of the story going is a challenge.

Imagine yourself writing the middle of the story in a 3rd-person POV involving several characters, and you're required to write several things going on at once in the background. One group of people is heading to a club, with one of your major characters going through an incident. The other is staying at home and arguing with an ex, which is a major plot point in the story. One of them is having a flashback to his years in Iraq, while the other is having a mid-life crisis. The struggle is, how do you write all these things in less than an X amount of words while struggling to make it readable at least?

Imagine yourself writing the middle of the story in first-person POV involving two characters, and you're required to describe one of the major characters' mental awakenings about his marriage. You're supposed to write two long pages about everything that's going through his mind: the struggle of his possible divorce, the love he still feels for his husband, the implications it will have on his kids, family, and friends, etc. You'd have to scrounge up the mental energy to put yourself in the shoes of a man considering divorce, since after all, you are writing from a first-person POV, and it is your job as a writer to write it authentically and as close to reality as possible.

Regardless of these situations, whether you're writing a third-person POV or a first-person POV, writing in the middle always requires mental fortitude, which not all writers may possess. 

That's why the middle is very problematic for most writers. It's a make-or-break thing because not everyone is willing to sacrifice their time and sanity to write about complicated plots, dialogues, and scenes. And in most novels, the middle part is where most of the meat is found. If it doesn't have drama, then you're just describing a BBC article about Russia's attempt to annex Ukraine.

The middle, throughout the history of writing, is where most people give up writing.

The writer's block wins.

And the energy needed to push the plot forward is spent somewhere else.

 

[Mancunian]

An interesting question and judging by the answers so far, the answer is different for most writers. For me, it's the middle part of the story that is most difficult to write. You know, those chapters in between the first and the last. I look at a story the same as a journey, I know where I'm starting from and I know where I'm going to end up. The decision is which way do I go? Do I go the most direct route? It is the shortest and often the least interesting journey. Do I go the pretty way? You know, the route that is full of hearts and flowers and very predictable. Or do I go the interesting way? That route often raises questions in my mind even when the answer is not so nice. But it keeps my interest and often takes me on a roundabout journey, it gives me something to think about and draws me in. I usually go the interesting way, or a version of it anyway as the journey I take often has elements of all three routes. That is why I find the chapters in between the most difficult to write.

[E K Stokes]

On 2/18/2024 at 12:13 AM, LJCC said:

That's why the middle is very problematic for most writers. It's a make-or-break thing because not everyone is willing to sacrifice their time and sanity to write about complicated plots, dialogues, and scenes. And in most novels, the middle part is where most of the meat is found. If it doesn't have drama, then you're just describing a BBC article about Russia's attempt to annex Ukraine.

I have to agree with this, that as @ReaderPaul and others have said, the hardest part of the novel is the middle. The beginning requires effort to pull in the readers, but you the author are bursting with the inspiration of the story you want to write. The end needs to be satisfying to tie everything together and leave the reader with a sigh and a sadness that the book has ended. But the middle, @LJCC said it all, it's where most would be authors give up, lost, tied in knots, meandering into a void of nothingness, or incoherent rambling.

Planning helps with the middle. Imagine starting out a journey from home, going to a place you've never been to before, you vaguely know where the place is but have very little idea on how to get there. You need a map and to plot a route, or you simply hope for the best and rely on spotting road signs, or you get modern and use GPS sat nav. In writing that's, a story plan, seat of the pants, or asking AI to write your story for you!

 

[JamesSavik]

If writing were easy, anybody could do it. Given some of the ummm... stuff I've seen, it looks like almost everyone has tried it with varying degrees of success. Even the drunken, worthless in-laws of people in the publishing industry, apparently. Come to think of it, that might explain the writing in TV and movies lately.

None of it is easy. Front, middle or end. They've all got to work together to create a cohesive whole, and that's like juggling cats.

1st chapters have to do so much. It has to hook the reader's attention, and that ain't easy with all the distractions of modern life.  I suggest the first chapter deliver a short, sharp smack upside the reader's head to make him furious enough to want to chase down the plot and throttle it.

Middles are also hard because you can't let the reader catch up with the plot too easily. You have to make him work for it. Give him some blind alleys and false trails to make him chase his tail, then yell, hey stupid, it's this way.

Endings are hard, too. After chasing the plot this far, the reader demands satisfaction. This resolution is, in my opinion, the hardest part. I like for the hero to walk off into the sunset with a smoking hot redhead on his arm, but that's just me.

This is what makes it fun and challenging. Oh, and the cats are fun too, if they'll forgive you for juggling them.

Edited February 27 by JamesSavik