I argue that narratives feel more potent because of a fulfilling end, an end that happens because what happens in a story drives to that end. The same way real life feels more vital because there will be an end, unfortunately, a story feels vibrant because it will end and lead to an ending.
Narratives, unlike real life, need causality. Every decision or action a character takes leads to another action. Nothing just happens. The narrative needs action flow for cohesiveness.
For my writing - mostly narrative short screenplays - after I understand what characters I'm writing about, I try to conceive of an end first. All characters, I argue, should drive a plot forward and act strategically. A good strategist creates a strategy based on outcome. "What is the endgame?" "What do I want everything to lead to?" "When this is over, what do I want everything to be like?" A character asks these questions or acts with this strategic mindset, even if not explicit.
Therefore, I start by thinking of what do I want the reader or audience to experience in the end. When they finish what I've written and leave, what do I want them to feel?
Then I think about what ending will leave them with that feeling. Then I work backwards - if this is the end, then how did we get here? I work backwards on a broad level - what happens in the story - and on a specific level - what just happened?
All of this connects with how a character causes things to happen and drives toward this end. Their strategic mindset and their imaginary context move to this end.
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