Anne-Katrin Purkiss/ Writer Pictures
Writing a novel was like driving to Edinburgh [from London]. You knew the _ rst ten miles very well. You knew where you were heading. And you knew a few of the places along the way. The rest you _ lled in as you went along, or perhaps discovered. KINGSLEY AMIS
Ithink that’s a pretty good analogy. If you’re writing a novel, it’s usually a good idea to know, before you put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, how the thing is going to end. That doesn’t mean that you need to have the final scene fixed in your head. It just means that you need to have some idea of how the story arc will conclude and how the characters’ problems will be resolved.