{"id":30398,"date":"2026-03-30T09:20:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T16:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=30398"},"modified":"2026-03-30T11:07:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T18:07:00","slug":"beginning-middle-end-and-mess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2026\/03\/30\/beginning-middle-end-and-mess\/","title":{"rendered":"Beginning, Middle, End \u2014 And Mess"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-30399 size-full\" title=\"Beginning, Middle, End \u2014 And Mess \" src=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/HTWTF-Episode-198-Blog-Images-1.png\" alt=\"Image of post it notes spread on wall for Beginning, Middle, End \u2014 And Mess\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/HTWTF-Episode-198-Blog-Images-1.png 300w, https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/HTWTF-Episode-198-Blog-Images-1-80x80.png 80w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/HTWTF-Episode-198-Blog-Images.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-30400 size-full aligncenter\" title=\"Quote from Beginning, Middle, End \u2014 And Mess\" src=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/HTWTF-Episode-198-Blog-Images.png\" alt=\"Quote from Beginning, Middle, End \u2014 And Mess\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/HTWTF-Episode-198-Blog-Images.png 300w, https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/HTWTF-Episode-198-Blog-Images-80x80.png 80w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beginning, Middle, End \u2014 And Mess &#8211; How To Write the future podcast, episode 198<\/span><\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cLife is messy. Life is unpredictable, and so is creating. Make room for that. Create compassion.\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Beth Barany<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this How To Write the Future podcast episode, titled \u201c<\/span><b>Beginning, Middle, End \u2014 And Mess<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d host Beth Barany shares why embracing the mess in creativity can have powerful results.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Platforms the podcast is available on: <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/198-beginning-middle-end-and-mess\/id1641025914?i=1000758168245\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apple Podcasts<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/2012061\/episodes\/18888889-198-beginning-middle-end-and-mess\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Buzzsprout<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/episode\/2WACLvHAWCiqAIHiAg7mo9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spotify<\/a>| <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/6U5Hi-ZqQnM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6U5Hi-ZqQnM?si=tQUfx7jcGeSRC7lf\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><script type='text\/javascript' charset='utf-8' src='https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/2012061.js?container_id=buzzsprout-large-player&#038;player=large'><\/script><\/p>\n<h2><b>RESOURCES<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><strong>GET HELP WITH YOUR WORLD BUILDING &#8211; START HERE<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/world-building-resources\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/world-building-resources\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- notionvc: a280f7e8-4c5b-4b39-8956-4db59044d877 --><\/p>\n<p><b>Support our work for creatives!<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Buy me a coffee:<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/bethbarany\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/bethbarany<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>GET HELP WITH YOUR WORLD BUILDING &#8211; START HERE<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers:<\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/world-building-resources\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/world-building-resources\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>GET SUPPORT FOR YOUR FICTION WRITING BY A NOVELIST AND WRITING TEACHER AND COACH<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Schedule an exploratory call here and see if Beth can support you today:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/discovery-call\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/discovery-call\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">About the How To Write the Future podcast<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How To Write The Future<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> podcast is for science fiction and fantasy writers who want to write positive futures and successfully bring those stories out into the marketplace. Hosted by Beth Barany, science fiction novelist and creativity coach for writers. We cover tips for fiction writers. This podcast is for readers too if you\u2019re at all curious about the future of humanity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This podcast is for you if you have questions like:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; How do I create a believable world for my science fiction story?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; How do I figure out what&#8217;s not working if my story feels flat?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; How do I make my story more interesting and alive?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This podcast is for readers, too, if you\u2019re at all curious about the future of humanity.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Transcript for episode 198 &#8211; Beginning, Middle, End \u2014 And Mess<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Introduction and Personal Anecdote\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><b>BETH BARANY:<\/b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mr. Rogers changed his shoes. I changed my glasses. Hi everyone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[00:10] Understanding Story Structure<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, I wanted to talk about how working on a book is not a one-size-fits-all operation. It&#8217;s highly tailored, highly customized to you, and that can look all kinds of ways. For me, I didn&#8217;t really understand what plot meant, but over the years, I&#8217;ve come to understand what people want it to mean.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But what I prefer is the word structure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To me, writing a novel is like building a house. There&#8217;s structure to it. There&#8217;s foundational work, there&#8217;s scaffolding work, there&#8217;s filling in the details. And then making sure it is a great experience for the people who are going to live in the house.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the people who are gonna read your book, you wanna make sure they have a wonderful experience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, that comes toward the end with the massaging of the words, but also, you think about them at the very beginning. When you think about, well, what kind of story do people wanna have? Just like you think about what kind of house do you wanna live in or do you wanna create for someone else to live in?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So story is to me a very structural process, and if you don&#8217;t know story structure, then it can be very challenging to understand what is meant by beginning, middle, and end, which is the most basic structure. There are a lot of different kinds of stories in the world that we have read, seen, and heard all our life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So I wanna say pay attention to story structure and pay attention to beginnings, middles, and ends of the kinds of stories that you like and the kinds of stories that you want to write.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[01:46] Tailoring Your Writing Process\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I&#8217;m gonna give some examples, and, but first I also wanna talk about what are some of the other things that are tailored to you in this writing process. And then I also wanna talk about being messy. So when you write, what time of day you write is specific to you. There&#8217;s no one right way. Some people are morning writers, some people are nighttime writers. I, myself, am mostly an afternoon writer, early afternoon too, not too late.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I like to write just after lunch, ideally for fiction. I do other writings at other times of day. I tend not to do creative work after about three or four o&#8217;clock,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What&#8217;s important is that you honor when is your highest, creative time and you give that to yourself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[02:33] Embracing Messiness in Creativity<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lastly, I wanna talk about messiness. Here I was talking about structure, and now I&#8217;m gonna talk about messiness because part of being creative is trying new things, and that&#8217;s gonna look every which way. You will not know how something will come out. And that is beautiful. The mystery of being creative is multiple. We don&#8217;t know where ideas come from. We don&#8217;t really understand how we are this way. I mean, we could point to our training and our upbringing and and all that kind of thing, but we don&#8217;t really truly understand how it all works.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Life is a mystery, and that is such a beautiful thing. So that means that your first drafts are gonna be messy. That is the nature of creation from a human standpoint. And even if you look at nature, of which we are a part, just like my cat, who, if you&#8217;re watching the video, you might see his tail pop up in the video.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We need to leave room for the mystery and for the mess. It&#8217;s only toward the ending parts of cleaning up a story that things in my stories start to look neat and nice and tidy and powerful and amazing. There&#8217;s a lot of mess in the creative process.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Life is messy. Life is unpredictable, and so is creating. Make room for that. Create compassion. What I would love for you is to make friends with the messiness, make friends with the best time of day for you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[03:54] Conclusion and Final Thoughts<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And when I work with clients in my one-on-one programs, they&#8217;re not specific programs. there&#8217;s not a map. I mean, there is a map to follow, but it&#8217;s very tailored to you, to the client.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So remember: story structure, messiness, compassion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alright, everyone, that&#8217;s it for this week. Write long and prosper.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating here:<\/span><\/h3>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/2012061\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/2012061<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><b>Need instructions on how to leave a review?<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/leave-a-podcast-review\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Go here.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">***<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b>Support our work for creatives: leave a tip: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/bethbarany\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/bethbarany<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">***<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ABOUT BETH BARANY\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/BETH-BARANY_2023_300px_01-e1692481023683.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-27411 size-full alignleft\" title=\"Beth Barany\" src=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/BETH-BARANY_2023_300px_01-e1692481023683.png\" alt=\"Beth Barany\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beth Barany teaches science fiction and fantasy novelists how to write, edit, and publish their books as a coach, teacher, consultant, and developmental editor. She\u2019s an award-winning fantasy and science fiction novelist and runs the podcast, \u201cHow To Write The Future.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn more about Beth Barany at these sites:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/author.bethbarany.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Author site<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \/\u00a0 <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/bethbarany.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Coaching site<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \/ <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/baranyschooloffiction.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">School of Fiction<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \/ <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.writersfunzone.com\/blog\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Writer\u2019s Fun Zone blog<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CONNECT<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contact Beth: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/podcast\/#tve-jump-185b4422580\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/podcast\/#tve-jump-185b4422580<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email: beth@bethbarany.com<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LinkedIn:<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/bethbarany\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/bethbarany\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IG: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/bethbarany\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/bethbarany\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TT: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@bethbarany\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@bethbarany\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FB: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bethbarany\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bethbarany<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">X: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BethBarany\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/BethBarany<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CREDITS<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">EDITED WITH DESCRIPT:<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.descript.com?lmref=_w1WCA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> https:\/\/www.descript.com?lmref=_w1WCA <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Refer-a-Friend link)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MUSIC CREDITS : Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!):<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/uppbeat.io\/t\/soundroll\/fuzz-buzz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> https:\/\/uppbeat.io\/t\/soundroll\/fuzz-buzz<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> License code: UMMKDRL02DFGKJ0L. \u201cFuzz buzz\u201d by Soundroll. Commercial license:<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/musicvine.com\/track\/soundroll\/fuzz-buzz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> https:\/\/musicvine.com\/track\/soundroll\/fuzz-buzz<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">DISTRIBUTED BY BUZZSPROUT:<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/?referrer_id=1994465\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/?referrer_id=1994465<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Refer-a-Friend link)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SHOW PRODUCTION BY Beth Barany<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SHOW CO-PRODUCTION + NOTES by Kerry-Ann McDade<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">c 2025 BETH BARANY<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bethbarany.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/bethbarany.com\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For more \u201cHow To Write the Future\u201d episodes, go <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/podcast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019d like to invite Beth onto your podcast, drop her a note <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/contact-beth\/#contactbeth\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2705 Like the work we do? Tip us! <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/bethbarany\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/bethbarany<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Beginning, Middle, End \u2014 And Mess &#8211; How To Write the future podcast, episode 198 *** \u201cLife is messy. Life is unpredictable, and so is creating. Make room for that. Create compassion.\u201d &#8211; Beth&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":30399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5099],"tags":[7639,7632,140,7634,7631,2663,7635,7575,4607,149,7633,5160,7640,7642,5855,7637,7641,7638,7644,1472,6411,6037,1518,2872,5163,5183,7643,7636,5162,5164,1490,4960,5165],"class_list":["post-30398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to-write-the-future-podcast","tag-afternoon-writer","tag-beginning-middle-end","tag-beth-barany","tag-building-a-house-story-metaphor","tag-creative-messiness","tag-creative-process","tag-creative-time","tag-experimentation","tag-fiction-writing-tips","tag-first-drafts","tag-foundational-work","tag-futuristics","tag-honoring-your-creative-time","tag-making-room-for-the-mess","tag-messy-first-draft","tag-morning-writer","tag-mystery-of-creativity","tag-nighttime-writer","tag-one-on-one-coaching","tag-plot","tag-scaffolding","tag-self-compassion","tag-story-structure","tag-story-telling","tag-story-world-building","tag-strategic-foresight","tag-tailored-writing-process","tag-time-of-day-writing","tag-tips-for-fiction-writers","tag-write-the-future","tag-writing-coaching","tag-writing-habits","tag-writing-teaching"],"yoast_head":"<!-- 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