Writing Rules

[hrj]

So my current fiction writing project I've been approaching as a "process experiment", trying to alter the ways I approach novel writing to see if I can't overcome some of my deficiencies. One of my current rules is to write front to back -- no jumping around. Well, I broke that one tonight. Because having finally mapped out the overall plot arc (that is, having finally figured out what it was so I could map it), the concluding scenes jumped out at me and whapped me upside the head. So tonight I wrote the concluding scene of Part IV and next I will probably go ahead and write Part V (which is more of a coda than a full-fledged "part" -- the parts are defined by where the action takes place, to some extent). The thing is, endings are something I usually have a really hard time with. And this time the ending is perfectly clear in my mind at the moment and I don't want to lose it. (Even if it changes later.) I know exactly how and why my protagonists have a complete breakdown of communication over what the resolution to The Mystery means to their relationship. And I know roughly how (and very clearly where) they solve this breakdown. I don't think this will undermine the drive to get all the parts in between written. We still have to get through a lot of secret rituals, precipitous flights, attempted abductions, treasonous plots, courtly intrigue, and skulking villains.