Note to readers: This post is mainly aimed at fellow writers – but by all means feel free to read if you have an interest in writing process.

In the ongoing “plotter vs. pantser” war, I come down somewhere on the plotter side – though not to any extreme degree. But I do have a very basic outline of the story before I start writing – I know where it begins – and where it ends.

A great benefit of doing this bit of groundwork is that I can skip between chapters even during the first draft. Which can be a helpful way of overcoming the inevitable moments of writer’s block: Stuck in Chapter Two? Well, why not have a go at Chapter Seven instead?

But – it wasn’t until the other day that I realized that this method might prompt the author to make an important decision about their writing technique.

I was about 4/5 through the first draft of my current work in progress. I had just finished one chapter and was pondering what to write next. And then I thought “now might be a good time to write the final chapter”.

As it turned out, it was. Having written the better part of the book made writing the ending easier – both the characters and their environments were pretty well-developed by now. And writing it, I felt that writing the ending would make finishing the book (and the subsequent editing) easier as well – because I knew what the whole story would be leading up to.

It dawned on me that there is a balance to be acheived. If you attempt to write the ending too soon, you might struggle with who the characters really are and what they’ve been through up to this point (unless your advance planning has been very detailed). But if you write the ending at exactly the right time, it can work as powerful catalyst, motivating you to fill in the rest of the story.

The question is: When is the best time to write the ending? What do you think?