Writers: Do you come up with an ending to your novel before you write?

There isn't a right answer to this. It depends on the author. Some plan everything, while others make everything up as they go along. Most are somewhere in between.

I usually have some idea of how I want the story to end before I start. That gives me something to aim for and helps to keep the story focused. If I'm not sure what to write next, or whether to include something I'm thinking of writing next, I can ask myself, "Does this move the story nearer to the ending, further away, or make no difference?" Scenes that make no difference probably don't belong in the book. Scenes that move the story further away from the ending are complications or obstacles or (sometimes) plot twists. Scenes that move the story nearer the ending are resolutions or the characters overcoming an obstacle.

The "ending" you devise doesn't have to be the actual last chapter of the book. It can be a result of what happens in the rest of the book, which in theory could come anywhere. You could ask yourself what you want to have changed for the characters or the world as a whole by the end of the story. Then work out what needs to happen for those changes to be possible. That gives you your plot.

Very rarely. Every now and then I might have a way I think the ending might go, but once I've written the book, that ending I had envisioned usually doesn't fit anymore, and by then I've got a better idea.

Before I begin writing I like to focus on the beginning. I don't really start thinking about the ending until it starts to get close.

Yes I do. Some people do, some people don't depending on who the author is. It is easier for some people to do it this way, but most people just get on with the story and see which ending in their head would be best. Me I write everything down, what will happen in Chapter... then I will tick it so I know that I have done everything right, so basically this is not really the right question to ask.

Most of the time no. I plan out the beginning and I leave the ending blank. Because, as I start to write, things start to flow out differently then what I had written down for them to go on my outline. The ending comes to me about mid-way through. It's easier for me that way.

Yes.

Actually, I usually plan a whole plotline from beginning to end, and then divide it into different sections that will be different books. I choose the most dramatic moments of the plot to end each book.

I'm about halfway done with my first novel and I've already planned the basics of the entire trilogy.

If I'm writing a short story yes but if I make a whole novel (I don't do this anymore but I still want to tell you) I would write the whole thing from beginning to end.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. The novel that I'm working on now, it's ending came to me oncce I had figured out the title and whole theme of the book. Most of the time, I do think up the ending, or at least, a temporary ending.

It depends. Right now, I'm righting a novel with no fixed ending in mind. I'm like," I'll only worry about the ending when I reach it."

It's really up to you. To me, it makes no difference, so long I sit and work on it continuously and not just abandon it mid-way.

I sometimes plan from the end to the beginning. But a lot of time I write from beginning to end. A lot of time it depends on how much of your story is already set in your head.

Mostly, I plan a vague ending, but plan the rest of the book as I write and I like to plan in the order that things will happen.