Have you ever read THE END by David LaRochelle? (illustrated by Richard Egielski)
It’s incredibly clever! Mr. LaRochelle spins a fairytale in reverse. He begins at the end and ends at the beginning. There’s all the fairytale flavor you’d expect—a princess, a knight, a dragon—plus some sweet lemonade as a bonus.
This picture book was in heavy bedtime rotation when my kids were little. And it also inspired me to revise my own work backwards, turning lemons into lemonade.
I often get stuck in my manuscripts at the middle. Maybe you do, too. Sure, it’s where the bulk of the story takes place, but it feels like it can be purposefully pedestrian, walking from point A, to point B, to ho-hum let’s-get-on-with-it C.
Yikes, I don’t want my audience to be lulled to sleep! But as a writer, I have so much more fun writing the opening and the closing. Those scenes can really pack a whack.
So sometimes when I’m stuck in the middle, I decide to work backwards. If I have a genius idea for the conclusion, I’ll write that first. Then I ask myself, how would you logically get here? What happened one step ago?
Then I write that part.
I go from C, to B, and then back farther to A. Somehow the logic of the story falls magically into place that way.
What happened right BEFORE this scene? What makes the most sense to occur PRIOR? These simple questions can really free up your work. It’s one of my revision go-tos, inspired by THE END. (Thanks, David!)
Do you want more revision tips?
I filmed a revision video of my best ideas for Karen Ferreira’s 2025 Children’s Book Mastery Summit. It begins next week, July 28. You can check it out using my link here.
Other writing experts like Charnaie Gordon, John Fox, Brooke Van Sickle, April M. Cox, Cameron Sutter (Plottr), Vicky Weber, Joe Bunting (The Write Practice), and Daniel David Wallace will also share their expertise with you during this event.
Is this the end? Nope. It’s just the beginning (or middle) of your kidlit publication journey. I hope you’ll join me!
