The hardest part begins
Finish what's given · 25 minutes · Published
Read this first
And it seemed as though in a little while the solution would be found, and then a new and splendid life would begin; and it was clear to both of them that they had still a long, long road before them, and that the most complicated and difficult part of it was only just beginning.
Anton Chekhov, The Lady with the Dog (1899). Translated by Constance Garnett, 1917. Project Gutenberg #13415
The prompt
Your ending is fixed in advance: two people realise that the hardest part of their road is only beginning. Write the scene that earns it, a room, a plan half-made, something they cannot say to each other. Close on that realisation in a sentence of your own, and do not let it be a relief.
Set a timer for 25 minutes.
Short version · 10 minutes
In ten minutes, write the last page only, ending on the given thought.
The move
Finish what's given. One piece is imposed, often the ending or a single line, and you write what leads to it.
Tags: structure, constraint and rhythm.
In a group
A way to run it with a writing group:
The writer listens. The text is read or handed round and the group talks about it. The writer listens and does not answer until the end.
Where the page goes next
Scrin is a home where pages grow into books: you keep writing, from an untitled line to a chapter, and Scrin keeps the rest.