Beginnings and endings

I once heard that, when writing a story, it was best to start with an ending. At the time I thought that was stupid.

Of course I was very young at the time. Now I realize the wisdom of those words.

I've got tons of beginnings. I've got the first few pages, or the first few minutes, of a dozen novels or films that would grab your attention and hold it. Unfortunately that's *all* I have.

I've got an idea for a film that will, if done right, be terrifying as well as a gripping story that'll twist and turn and twist, challenging you while you watch it, letting you think you've got it figured out then letting you know that you're wrong . . . or are you?

I've got all that. I've got damned near all the plot. I've got many of the characters.

One little thing I don't have yet, and that's the frakkin' ending. I know where I'm gonna wind up but I don't know what happens then.

I need a target to shoot for. When I don't have one you can tell while you read my work--you can see me fumbling around, vamping, hoping something will occur to me. Sometimes that actually works--I've come up with a couple of pretty decent endings just like that, out of desperation. But more often than not it doesn't work. Especially as I get older.

Anyways, I'm gonna spend the next few nights sleepless, thinking about this, trying to make these pieces come together to form a picture that makes sense. Or maybe create a new piece to fill in a gap. Will I suceed?

Of course I will. Because I've got a ridiculous amount of self-confidence when it comes to this sort of thing--creating stuff like this. I don't have a lot of confidence in my judgement of my own work, really, but I do know that I can do this.

In a way, that's what makes this whole thing so much fun! I keep telling myself. . .