Killer Writing Tip From a Thriller Master

Many years ago, I was interviewing the great thriller writer Mickey Spillane when he asked me: “Where do you start writing a story?”  

I knew the answer because another great writer (Ayn Rand) had discussed this issue in her fiction writing course that I had studied.

Mr. Spillane told me, “You start writing a story at the end!”

Many storytellers know this principle, but others don’t believe or follow it. What does it mean, to start writing a story at its end? This is how I understand this pivotal storytelling idea:

Actionable Story Solution

When creating a story, a writer first works out her core ideas: The basic plot situation, the goals and conflicts of the lead characters, the big problem, twist, or irony, and so forth.

But what does the writer do next? What does she have to do with these big ideas to build a plotline?

A writer now needs to work out, at least in principle, the climax of her story. Then she has a destination to drive her characters and their conflicts to. She can now bridge her story set-up to its climax. Having the climax worked out allows her to construct a logical, escalating, and suspenseful plot line.

Without knowing your climax, your story will meander to some weak, contrived ending. If you can even “finish” it. If you don’t know where your story is going, how can you write it?

Listen to Mr. Spillane! He was one of the best and most successful thriller writers of last century because he wrote thrilling plots with great climaxes. Never start writing until you know the ending! And make it a great one.

For the first two emailers responding with CLIMAX, I will give them free short notes on their screenplay’s 30-word premise statement and 20-word climax statement.  

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