The Circle Method

For many writers, the most difficult task is coming up with a good beginning or a good ending. The reason is because most of the time, the idea for a good story comes somewhere in between.
What usually happens is that we have something we want to say, a story we want to tell, and we have to figure out how to get into the story and, once we've told it, how to make a fulfilling (to the reader) exit.
One of the ways of doing this is through The Circle Method, so named because the story comes full circle. It might begin with two men standing under a street light, talking. As the story unfolds, 20 years pass, a lot of things happen, and the story ends with the two men standing under the same street light.
Picture a story that begins with someone standing on a corner staring at a used car lot across the street and thinking about how that was once the site of his or her childhood home. The story then evolves about all the things that happened in that home and eventually returns to the person standing across the street from the used car lot. Perhaps a policeman comes up to the person and asks them if they are all right and the person answers, "Yes ... I was just thinking ...
The Circle Method. Try it. You'll like it.