When you write a short story ... you had better know the ending first. The end of a story is only the end to the reader. To the writer, it's the beginning. If you don't know exactly where you're going every minute you're writing, you'll never get there — or anywhere." - Meaning and context.">
QuotesCosmos
The Casebook of the Black Widowers (1980), p. 177
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When you write a short story ... you had better know the ending first. The end of a story is only the end to the reader. To the writer, it's the beginning. If you don't know exactly where you're going every minute you're writing, you'll never get there — or anywhere.

— Isaac Asimov

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "When you write a short story ... you had better know the ending first. The end of a story is only the end to the reader. To the writer, it's the beginning. If you don't know exactly where you're going every minute you're writing, you'll never get there — or anywhere." in the context of "The Casebook of the Black Widowers (1980), p. 177" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Isaac Asimov" (Quotes, General sources, 1971–1980) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

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#Isaac Asimov#story#youre#end#beginning#anywhere#exactly#writing#better#ending#reader#writer
Isaac Asimov

About Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov (c. 2 January 1920 – 6 April 1992) was a Russian-born American biochemist who was a prolific writer of both fiction and non-fiction, his works include the Foundation series and I, Robot.