ENTRY # 38 Theres a pile of short works, begun interestingly enough, some interesting development in the middle, that floundered and fizzled. Erik, the formidable, gave me this advice. “Decide the end, then work up to it.” Makes unbelievable sense. They live happily ever after. The bad guy gets his comeuppance. (Hey! Can I do this in real life?) If the end is in sight, you, the omnipotent one of the fictional world, can make life as intricate as you want, and take your characters (and readers) inexhorably to that end. BTW, Erik didnt like the ending to Rosarios. Didn’t jive with his sense of fictional equilibrium or justice. But thats much later.