For whatever reason, I have a subscription to Entertainment Weekly. Normally, I leisurely skim through it over a few days, reading about the things that interest me and ignoring the stuff that doesn't.
Anyways, the latest issue has an article on "How to Write a Season Finale". Just thought I'd briefly summarize the article's main points here because they could very well sync-up with RPG adventure writing.
* Envision the season's final image and reverse engineer the adventure or campaign from there.
* Give yourself permission to deviate from the plan. Some things happen last minute. Characters will act or react differently than you anticipated. Occasionally, a better idea comes along towards the end.
* Meet fan (or in this case, player) expectations. Entertain and surprise players with twists, turns, and secrets.
* End on a cliff-hanger, setting impossible stakes that will leave players scratching their heads over where the adventure/campaign could go. In other words, write yourself into a corner and then see what happens. The ultimate goal is shock value.
* If you've built the end of the season right, the story will come together with ease. No matter how good the adventure/campaign was, if you don't stick the landing all people will remember is that the ending sucked.
There it is. Let me know if you think EW's take on season finales are on target with crafting scenarios and campaigns.
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