103. Before you write, you don't know your ending!

Know your ending. You have to know where you're going, otherwise you'll go nuts while you're writing, wandering off here and there, up this and that cul de sac. You don't have to stick with that ending, of course, because stuff will change and you will make wonderful discoveries... but when you start out, it helps if you have an endpoint in mind. 

You may have to write the movie to find the right ending, and then rewrite it once you know what your ending is, but it’s scary to just strike blindly out, writing your way forward, not knowing if the family gets back together, or if Harry gets Sally, or if the Von Trapps make it out of the country in one piece.

When they shot CASABLANCA, they had no idea how they were going to end it, until the day they arrived on the set. What a terrifying proposition! The whole last airport scene was literally done on the spot.  Because they didn't know Claude Rains was going to say, “Round up the usual suspects” or that Bogart would say, “This is going to be the beginning of a wonderful friendship…” they started to shoot it with Bogart getting the girl… and maybe because they didn't know, they didn't do the usual stuff with Claude Rains tipping off that he was actually a good guy… he gave it just enough of that twinkle in the early going, so you'd like him, even though he was a slime… and when the camera cuts to him, you are totally convinced that he'd say “round up the usual suspects…”

Know your ending. If you don’t have an endpoint in mind, you can journey off the path so far that you may never find your way back to the main trail and either stay lost or give up. I can assure you, that’s depressing.

Know your ending. With or without an outline, it gives your characters something to aim at.

Know your ending. Blake Snyder wants you to start knowing an opening image and a closing image...which gives you a visual clue about the journey the hero is about to go through. Swell idea.

Know your ending. If you know your ending takes place on the top of a tall building, you can give the characters stuff they’ll need to get there. A fear of heights. A father who jumped from a tall building. Grandfather’s nifty watch with glow-in-the-dark numbers and a grappling hook.

Know your ending. It’s like a bad car trip with your in-laws. If you know you’re headed to New York City for vacation, odds are, you won’t end up in downtown Detroit. Think how unpleasant that could be...