This sounds like a really fun exercise! I don’t think I could do a whole novel this way, but something shorter. Novelette maybe. I’m excited to see how yours turns out!
I didn't! But I can definitely see the value in doing that. I need to at least know the ending that I'm working towards, even if I don't write it til last.
Thanks for watching! If you know where you want to go with a story or know what’s going to happen later on, one idea might be to write backwards or plan backwards from there, or carry on from there to the end for now and figure out the rest later. Who knows what’ll work 🙂
Me thinking about writing backwards like this is literally the confused math lady meme, ahahaha! I have so much respect for writers who can do these types of stories...maybe one day I'll give it a go, but right now it seems way beyond my abilities! I haven't ever watched it, but I know the movie Memento (came out in 2000) is told backwards, similar to how you're describing. There's also an old episode of ER (pretty sure it's the one titled "Hindsight" from 2002) that's told in reverse. I remember watching the ER episode when it first aired and being completely blown away by _how_ the story was told and how they put it together so beautifully without it being confusing to the viewer. If you can find it, it might be a good one to watch for more ideas on structuring these types of stories.
It did occur to me that by the time I've finished this it may just be a massive hot garbage mess. If so...I did it for science! I haven't seen much ER but, I've heard of memento, and I think I might even have seen it, but I think I'll search it out again for research! 🙂
not weird or pointless at all, very thought-provoking actually. I'm struggling on how to structure my novel at the moment, and perhaps writing it backwards is the way (somewhat ironically) *forward?* haha! great video as always, cheers mate
Thank you! Yeah backwards might work, or go to a set place that you know about and work both backwards and forwards even! Really mix it up haha ☺️ if it gets you moving in any direction it’s better than being stuck I guess!
I was watching this thinking “wow that’s such a crazy exercise” But actually with my Christmas stories, I wrote the last one first and had the same realization: I wanted to stick with the characters but this story was obviously the end so then I wrote the 2nd last etc etc. It worked incredibly well!! And I think it made things more organic. They’re read in chronological order though 😂 I tried to write a novel backwards last fall-it didn’t go as well but that story was much more complicated so, like most things, I’m sure it depends on the story. Such a cool experiment! I would love to read a novella like that! The concept reminds me a bit of Cloud Atlas which was annoying as heck actually the first half but ultimately incredibly engaging and interesting!
There's just something about doing it this way that feels fresh to me, even though it is definitely weird and I'm not sure it'll work overall 😂 I'm trying to keep plot elements to a minimum as much as I can so that I don't get caught up and try too hard to connect everything, which is how I usually kill my novels! Ah I loved Cloud Atlas, I like David Mitchell's stuff generally 😃
@@KierenWestwoodWriting That makes sense! I think I wrote something where some reader is definitely going to complain that "nothing really happens" - but it's super fun for me anyway :)! Am very excited to hear more about how your project goes & would love to read!
I’m glad I watched this video. I just finished my first comic book on human trafficking and I wrote it backwards just to add curiosity to it all because there’s so many other stories out there about trafficking. I felt good and excited about how it all turned out. Everyone who reads it, including the editor, says it’s easy to follow and something unique with good pacing and mystery. A coworker who is a script writer for years, has been bugging me to read what I wrote and I finally gave her a copy. She completely ripped my heart out with her criticism even when she said it was too much to read (which tells me she didn’t read it). She said it was hard to follow and had too many characters. Now I’m second guessing the script but after watching your videos, I’m motivated and feeling positive about what I wrote.
I'm glad you're feeling more positive now, it's difficult to see feedback like that as 'just one person's opinion'. It so often feels in the moment like 'they must be right', but there is no 'right', there's just preference. I'm all for trying new things and different ways of presenting story, I learn more that way and I lose nothing by having fun writing it!
@@KierenWestwoodWriting I completely agree. Her criticism bothered me because she’s been writing scripts for years so I figured she knows what she’s talking about but after playing the situation back in my mind I also remember that she writes based on what one person taught her in a very rigid form. I learned to write scripts from the 3 different fields of comic books, novels and movies. Not saying I’m better than she is but I stay open minded to change and feedback. I see the traditional ways to write more as guidelines and not rules. I also have a good feeling about the story I developed.
@@resistancepublishing That’s how I try to approach writing too, learn what you can from where you can, whatever appeals to you most. Your influences should be a collage and not a photocopy! There’s no sense in being rigid, you just limit yourself. I love that feeling of excitement and belief in my story. Hold onto that! ☺️
@@KierenWestwoodWriting thanks. I sure will. I’m happy with it. Not just from the outside compliments but for the faith I have in the story and the humanity of the characters
Right? It can definitely get things moving I think. Not something I would have thought of before, but I'll definitely use it in the future if I get stuck 🙂
Hey man, Super interesting. Are you giving yourself any limitations in terms of not knowing what you're going to write next (ahem previously)? What I mean is: you obviously didn't know that you were going on this journey when you wrote the original flash fiction piece. Now, as you're writing, do you find your mind creeping backwards in the plot / forwards in your story looking at how you're going to end / start it? Or do you try to keep it work by work? Finishing one flash story before thinking about the content of the next? I can see benefits to both.
Pretty much yeah! I’ve got pretty much no idea what the first story will be! I have a vague shadow of an idea but nothing more than that. I’m taking it one story at a time though as a general rule though, so that it remains surprising (hopefully) 😞
This sounds like a really fun exercise! I don’t think I could do a whole novel this way, but something shorter. Novelette maybe. I’m excited to see how yours turns out!
Yeah definitely might be a little much for a novel, but it’s a fun experiment for shorter stuff ☺️ thanks so much for watching!
Did you know that Truman Capote advised writers to begin WITH THE ENDING because that will tell you where you're going. So, he used it, too.
I didn't! But I can definitely see the value in doing that. I need to at least know the ending that I'm working towards, even if I don't write it til last.
2 years after you posted this video . . . “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a brilliant little backward book!
I read it a couple of years ago (after this) and very much enjoyed it!
Great advice as usual, Kieren.
I'm currently "stuck" myself, so may try your working backward method.
Thanks.
Thanks for watching! If you know where you want to go with a story or know what’s going to happen later on, one idea might be to write backwards or plan backwards from there, or carry on from there to the end for now and figure out the rest later. Who knows what’ll work 🙂
Me thinking about writing backwards like this is literally the confused math lady meme, ahahaha! I have so much respect for writers who can do these types of stories...maybe one day I'll give it a go, but right now it seems way beyond my abilities!
I haven't ever watched it, but I know the movie Memento (came out in 2000) is told backwards, similar to how you're describing. There's also an old episode of ER (pretty sure it's the one titled "Hindsight" from 2002) that's told in reverse. I remember watching the ER episode when it first aired and being completely blown away by _how_ the story was told and how they put it together so beautifully without it being confusing to the viewer. If you can find it, it might be a good one to watch for more ideas on structuring these types of stories.
It did occur to me that by the time I've finished this it may just be a massive hot garbage mess. If so...I did it for science!
I haven't seen much ER but, I've heard of memento, and I think I might even have seen it, but I think I'll search it out again for research! 🙂
not weird or pointless at all, very thought-provoking actually. I'm struggling on how to structure my novel at the moment, and perhaps writing it backwards is the way (somewhat ironically) *forward?* haha! great video as always, cheers mate
Thank you! Yeah backwards might work, or go to a set place that you know about and work both backwards and forwards even! Really mix it up haha ☺️ if it gets you moving in any direction it’s better than being stuck I guess!
@@KierenWestwoodWriting on point!
Never tried writing backwards but it does sound interesting and maybe something to try!
It might just be one of those weird tools for just the right occasion when nothing else's working 🙂 EIther that or I'm just weird myself!
I was watching this thinking “wow that’s such a crazy exercise” But actually with my Christmas stories, I wrote the last one first and had the same realization: I wanted to stick with the characters but this story was obviously the end so then I wrote the 2nd last etc etc. It worked incredibly well!! And I think it made things more organic. They’re read in chronological order though 😂 I tried to write a novel backwards last fall-it didn’t go as well but that story was much more complicated so, like most things, I’m sure it depends on the story.
Such a cool experiment! I would love to read a novella like that! The concept reminds me a bit of Cloud Atlas which was annoying as heck actually the first half but ultimately incredibly engaging and interesting!
There's just something about doing it this way that feels fresh to me, even though it is definitely weird and I'm not sure it'll work overall 😂
I'm trying to keep plot elements to a minimum as much as I can so that I don't get caught up and try too hard to connect everything, which is how I usually kill my novels!
Ah I loved Cloud Atlas, I like David Mitchell's stuff generally 😃
@@KierenWestwoodWriting That makes sense! I think I wrote something where some reader is definitely going to complain that "nothing really happens" - but it's super fun for me anyway :)! Am very excited to hear more about how your project goes & would love to read!
@@NicoleWilbur Having fun with writing is underrated! :D
I’m glad I watched this video. I just finished my first comic book on human trafficking and I wrote it backwards just to add curiosity to it all because there’s so many other stories out there about trafficking. I felt good and excited about how it all turned out. Everyone who reads it, including the editor, says it’s easy to follow and something unique with good pacing and mystery. A coworker who is a script writer for years, has been bugging me to read what I wrote and I finally gave her a copy. She completely ripped my heart out with her criticism even when she said it was too much to read (which tells me she didn’t read it). She said it was hard to follow and had too many characters. Now I’m second guessing the script but after watching your videos, I’m motivated and feeling positive about what I wrote.
I'm glad you're feeling more positive now, it's difficult to see feedback like that as 'just one person's opinion'. It so often feels in the moment like 'they must be right', but there is no 'right', there's just preference.
I'm all for trying new things and different ways of presenting story, I learn more that way and I lose nothing by having fun writing it!
@@KierenWestwoodWriting I completely agree. Her criticism bothered me because she’s been writing scripts for years so I figured she knows what she’s talking about but after playing the situation back in my mind I also remember that she writes based on what one person taught her in a very rigid form. I learned to write scripts from the 3 different fields of comic books, novels and movies. Not saying I’m better than she is but I stay open minded to change and feedback. I see the traditional ways to write more as guidelines and not rules. I also have a good feeling about the story I developed.
@@resistancepublishing That’s how I try to approach writing too, learn what you can from where you can, whatever appeals to you most. Your influences should be a collage and not a photocopy! There’s no sense in being rigid, you just limit yourself.
I love that feeling of excitement and belief in my story. Hold onto that! ☺️
@@KierenWestwoodWriting thanks. I sure will. I’m happy with it. Not just from the outside compliments but for the faith I have in the story and the humanity of the characters
How coincidental, a week ago, I ended up writing a few ending scenes after having troubles in the middle of my first draft :P It definitely helped!
Right? It can definitely get things moving I think. Not something I would have thought of before, but I'll definitely use it in the future if I get stuck 🙂
Wow. Sounds tricky! But fun!
It definitely takes a bit of thinking different! But it’s fun ☺️
Hey man,
Super interesting. Are you giving yourself any limitations in terms of not knowing what you're going to write next (ahem previously)? What I mean is: you obviously didn't know that you were going on this journey when you wrote the original flash fiction piece. Now, as you're writing, do you find your mind creeping backwards in the plot / forwards in your story looking at how you're going to end / start it? Or do you try to keep it work by work? Finishing one flash story before thinking about the content of the next? I can see benefits to both.
Pretty much yeah! I’ve got pretty much no idea what the first story will be! I have a vague shadow of an idea but nothing more than that.
I’m taking it one story at a time though as a general rule though, so that it remains surprising (hopefully) 😞
I am writing backwards as well 😀 it's working
This is do interesting. I've only ever written one flash backwards. Not sure how successful that was! 😅
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