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Knowing where readers should land gives every paragraph a job and keeps your writing on track. Yes, write your final sentence first.
Transcript
Here is a trick that will sharpen everything you write. Write your final sentence first.
Sounds odd, I know. We are taught to start at the beginning. But when you begin without knowing your ending, your writing wanders, and so does your reader.
Your last line is where you want the reader to arrive. It might be the feeling you want to leave them with. It might be the one idea you want to stick. Decide that first.
Once you know the destination, the whole piece changes. Every paragraph now has a job. It has to move the reader closer to that ending. Anything that does not belong becomes easy to spot and cut.
You can change the line later. Endings shift as you write, and that is fine.
But do not start in a fog. Name your ending, then write your way there.
