While I’m not big on outlines, when I’m writing I find it’s good to know what my ending is. Gives me a goal to shoot for. This goes both for each individual novel, and the series as a whole.
I was thinking about this early this morning, as I mentally ran through the final dialogue to my back-burnered TV series. I’ve read that John Wells knew early on how he was going to end THE WEST WING. (Frankly, I think he got it wrong. When asked what he was thinking about as they flew away from Washington, President Bartlett’s closing line should have been, "What’s next." I thought that "Tomorrow" was a little uncharacteristic.) I’ve also read that Amy Sherman-Paladino knew the exact four words that were to end GILMORE GIRLS – but then she left the show in its final year after a contract dispute with WB, so we’ll never know what those words were going to be.
I have to admit, there’s a part of me that rebels at the notion of a fixed end-point. Having experienced the awe that comes from letting a story flow where it wants to, there’s something too constraining in the idea. But I can’t deny that it’s helped me. Knowing how each novel in the Mercutio series ends (at least through book five) does two things. It gives me a definite goal, and it allows me to lay the groundwork not just for each novel, but several novels to come.
I’m just thinking aloud here, but since I’m often asked these kinds of questions, I thought I’d try to put down some more concrete thoughts. I guess I’m saying it good to know where you’re heading, as long as the journey has the freedom to detour now and again.
I appreciated your advice regarding outlines. There seems to be a fine line between “outlines” and goals. I recall reading that the final chapter of the final book was one of the first things JK Rowling wrote for the Harry Potter series. As the story grew, that final chapter changed, but she always had it there in her sights. Then again, I also read that the outline James Ellroy wrote for “LA Confidential” was 250 pages long. At that point, why not just write the book first?
Also, how many books are you planning for the Mercutio series?
I hadn’t heard that about Ellroy, but I completely agree. That’s anal retentiveness that I for one can live without.
As far as the series, it keeps growing. Thanks to my publisher’s demand for shorter novels, Book 2 became Books 2,3,& 4. Book 5 then changed dramatically due to the research. Book 6, which I had originally planned to be Book 3, is now Books 6 & 7. And so the shuffle goes. I know the mcguffin in each, both the internal struggle in the novel and how it fits in the over-all arc (around Book 9 it gets muddy, but that makes sense at this point – it will resolve itself after I’ve gotten a few more under my belt).
That’s a much longer answer than you needed. At the moment I’m calling it 12 books. We’ll see.
DB
I know the joy of writing without knowing where you are going, but sadly the pain that that has caused me in the editing process outweighs the joy. Now I actually use note cards and write the beginning, end, and finally the middle.
T.K. – Yeah, I wrote a novel (that will forever live in a drawer) that was free to wander. Boy, was that a mess. Some really good scenes, but no cohesion. When it came to editing, it was indeed “killing my darlings.”